The Slug Prince ON HIATUS
by TanyaScathYggdrasil
Summary: Jiraiya abandons Naruto in favour of a certain Pinkette. When Naruto receives his Clan Scrolls from an unlikely source he starts to walk a completely different path. Eventual ShikaNaruNeji. [HIATUS]
1. Chapter 1

Naruto is a manga series by Masashi Kishimoto published by Shueisha in Japan's Shonen Jump and VIZ Media in the American Shonen Jump. The anime series is produced by Studio Pierrot and Aniplex for TV Tokyo and Animax with VIZ Media having gone through multiple networks over the years. I don't own the series, I make no money out of doing this. Please support the official release.

Hello and welcome to my premiere fanfiction The Slug Prince. I got the idea for this while reading another fanfiction and decided to put my own twist to it. So let me know what you think and hope you enjoy. :o)

Chapter One: One Day Special! Today's Ramen Comes with free Scrolls!

It had not been a good day for Naruto. As the blond Genin took his usual seat at Ichiraku's he decided to revise the statement and surmised that it had actually been more like a giant crap fest. He had made it through to the next stage of the Chuunin exams and had a month to train. His Sensei Kakashi had disappeared somewhere to train the damned Uchiha and Iruka had too many classes and too much paperwork to give him any time. He had thanked the Heavens when Ebisu-san had offered his services but he had disappeared after Pervy Sage had knocked him out. This brought Naruto's thoughts to the present and his newest betrayal. Jiraiya. One of the Legendary Sannin of Konoha, though all Naruto had seen was an absurdly strong perverted old man. With his Ninja Centrefold he had managed to get the Pervy sage to agree to train him. He had done something to his stomach that had fixed the ache he had been feeling since his fight with the Snake Guy in the Forest of Death and had taught him to walk on water but just when they were talking about Toad Summoning, Sakura had shown up and Jiraiya had ended his role as Naruto's Mentor and walked away whispering into the pinkette's ear about training her to become the first female Hokage!

"IT'S JUST NOT FAIR YA KNOW!" the blond Genin screamed, slamming his fists on the counter. "Calm down brat! You are disturbing my meal." Naruto turned to his neighbour, an old man with bandages across half his face, a tuft of hair sticking out at the top and an x-shaped scar on his chin. He looked as old as Grandpa Hokage. Naruto bowed his head in apology. "Sorry Grandpa, I'm just… it's just not fair ya know?" The old man shook his head while he ate some more ramen. "No I don't know but perhaps you want to talk about it? I'm Shimura Danzo, what is yours?" Naruto ordered some ramen for himself and had a mouthful before he said anything else. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto, Orange Genin of Konohagakure. And I'm probably going to stay that ya know? I thought when Iruka-sensei acknowledged me as a ninja of Konoha and my joining Team 7 meant I was finally going to be a ninja who protects Konoha and serve my village and have friends, comrades I could count on ya know? I thought I would get real training and become strong so I can achieve my dream of becoming the next Hokage, the best ninja of the whole village. I was going to the greatest Hokage, the greatest defender of the village, so everyone would finally respect me and see me as a ninja who love his village and not as a Demon. Instead I've been reminded how gullible I can be. Kakashi –sensei, who gave this big speech about teamwork, has run off with his precious Uchiha to train him. Uchiha is getting further and further ahead of me and just when I think I might have found someone else to train me Sakura-chan steals him because he's a pervert and she's not a boy!" Naruto finished his bowl and rested his head on the table. "How can I get strong enough to protect my village when no-one will give me a chance ya know?"

The leader of ROOT was at a loss. The man who lead Konoha's even-blacker-black-ops had decided to treat himself to his secret passion for Ichiraku Ramen and had come face-to-face with Konoha's Jinchukiri. He had been planning to take the power of the Kyuubi for himself, he'd laced his left arm with Sharingan eyes and injected himself with the First Hokage's blood for that very purpose, and yet he now found himself losing the desire to do such a thing. The Jinchu…. Naruto's words struck a chord in him. As a child he had always felt like he was always trying to catch up to Saru, the Sandaime Hokage. He loved Konoha too and he'd always wanted to be Hokage himself, to be the Great Protector of the village. Years before he had attempted to forge an alliance with Hanzo the Salamander to that end, but that plan had fallen apart. In fact he now felt ashamed of the planned coup, to his own surprise.

Danzo had long thought the same as many that Uzumaki Naruto was the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox in human form, a menace. Now he saw his own reflection, a little boy struggling for recognition and chasing the shadow of his teammate. He had known his father and grandfather had died to protect the village but though he knew Naruto's parents had given their lives to protect the village, the Orange Genin of Konoha did not. He knew nothing of his heritage. He agreed with Sarutobi that the name Namikaze would have drawn the Yondaime Hokage's attention but the Uzumaki name had an allure too. They had once had their own village and specialised in Fuinjutsu's. Seals. He had researched them a great deal when he had been developing his own seals and had a number of their scrolls with him on this day. "What you have told me today gives me pause for thought, young Uzumaki. I will admit that I already knew who you were before you introduced yourself and I have borne you an ill will for as long as you have lived. But what you have said today has given me a new perspective. You speak of your love for Konoha and your desire to be her number one protector. I share that dream, but I fear my team has passed. So I think I shall help you." He reached into his bag and made a mental note to have the ROOT files on Uzumaki Naruto moved from the enemies section and into the allies section. "The Uzumaki were a very prestigious family of ninja. They had close familial ties to the Senju family, who founded Konoha, and they themselves had their own village. These scrolls contain their history and their jutsus. They are your birthright. I'm afraid I can't afford the time to train you myself, but I am sure that you can overcome tis obstacle. In fact I shall put a small sum on you to win in your match so don't let me down." With that the old man that had just overturned the Orange Genin's life in a matter of minutes stood and walked away.

Naruto ran home clutching the Uzumaki scrolls tightly to his chest. He literally could not believe his own luck. A man he had never met before had given him a way of possibly winning. He locked the door and pulled his training schedule to start rearranging his training. He'd never done any work on Fuinjutsu, but he had high hopes considering they were part of his very bloodline. Some of the designs made him think of his own seal, an Uzumaki must have designed it or had a hand in its creation. He also realised the crest that decorated his coat and the flak jackets of every Chuunin and Jonin in Konoha was in fact the Uzumaki clan symbol! When Grandpa Scarry-Chin had said the Uzumakis and the Senjus were close he meant it.

In the Hokage's office Sarutobi Hiruzen was working his way through paperwork when there came a knock at the door. "Who could be calling at this hour?" the Sandaime Hokage mused as he went to the door. "Hello Saru, old friend, may I come in?" With a great deal of sputtering Hiruzen led his old friend and rival into the office they had both dreamed of working in as children. As he lit his pipe, Hiruzen turned to the seated Danzo and asked him why he had come. "I had an interesting conversation with Uzumaki Naruto." Hiruzen tensed at this. He knew his old friend had some extremist views and an interest in Naruto could prove hazardous. "I 've done some terrible things Saru," Hiruzen stifled a gasp of shock, "I've always believed that we ninja should hide in the shadows and I have been vicious in dealing with any perceived enemy of Konoha. But that boy … I saw him as a possible tool but when he started to tell me what he has experienced I felt my heart go out to him. I have felt some of what he had felt, though not as severely. He wants to be the Hokage, the No. 1 Defender of Konoha. After all he has had to endure, he still wants to protect Konoha. But he is ignored by his teachers and he feels he is falling further and further behind his peers. I can't help but sympathise." Hiruzen smiled. _You're finally starting to see my side after all these years? It's about time Old Friend. _

Meanwhile Naruto was pouring over the Uzumaki Fuinjutsu scrolls till he stopped at one that caught his eye. Yin Seal: The ninja stores chakra in a focus point and can use it in the event of chakra exhaustion or for certain derived jutsu. See- Creation Rebirth, invented by Senju Tsunade. Tsunade? Naruto took a moment to try and remember where he'd heard that name when it came to him. Tenten! Lee's teammate had given a three hour speech about her; the speech was supposed to make point about how kunoichi could be just as good as shinobi, if not better. It had instead convinced everyone that Tenten's interests lay in the fairer sex. Senju Tsunade was the granddaughter of the Shodai Hokage, trained by the Sandaime Hokage and the primary force for the inclusion of Iryo-nin into ninja teams. One of the Legendary Sannin, like Pervy Sage! Naruto made a note to visit Tenten to get some more information on Tsunade and set to work on crafting the Yin Seal. He thought back to one of his few conversations with Pervy Sage. Another Chakra, a different colour from his normal Chakra that he could use. If he could make this Fuinjutsu work he could channel the Red Chakra there and use it whenever instead of just when he's angry.

"I gave him the Uzumaki scrolls." Hiruzen dropped his pipe. "You had them then? I always wondered where they had gone. Grandma Mito always said you were popping over for Fuinjutsu lessons." Danzo sipped at his tea and gave his old friend and long-time rival a long stare. "If he's going to live as an Uzumaki and not a Namikaze then he may as well have access to all of his Uzumaki heritage." It had been Hiruzen's decision that the boy be given his mother's family name, believing his mother's name might attract less attention than his father's. "It was very kind of you to give him that but I have looked over the match-ups for the next part of the Chuunin Exams and I'm not sure Fuinjutsu will help him much against a Juken specialist." Danzo began to laugh, so much so he had to put his cup down. Hiruzen was in two minds about what he was seeing. On the one hand he had never seen Danzo laugh with so much glee in decades. On the other hand, Danzo clearly knew something about the Uzumaki clan that he didn't. And that bothered him. Hiruzen re-lit his pipe and continued to enjoy the company of an old friend.

Naruto found himself in a dark corridor. The floor was flooded and the place looked like nobody had set foot there in years. He heard a rumble and moved towards the sound. He came to room with a huge gate and a large seal was stuck to it. "Hello? Is anyone here? I'm looking for a fox? He's supposed to be really big and has nine tails?" The room shook with a roar and a large pair of red eyes appeared on the other side of the gate. "Who dares disturb me?" Naruto fell to the ground with a splash. Okay, perhaps taunting the demon that nearly destroyed Konoha was not the best plan but it's done and at least now he knew where he was. He cleared his throat and stepped up to the gate. "Hi there! I'm Uzumaki Naruto and I'm your Jinchukiri ya know! Listen, your Chakra leaks out a bit and it's been really hand at times but I would really like to be able to turn it on and off so I've set up a Yin Seal to store the Chakra for when I need it. Now since your living in me your more like a tenant so let's make that Red Chakra your rent and you just send it there ya know!" The fox hit the gate hard. "Insolent brat! Do you know who I am?" The fox snarled with contempt at his newest Jinchukiri. "No I don't, so what's your name?"

"I am….. what did you just say?"


	2. Chapter 2

Naruto is a manga series by Masashi Kishimoto published by Shueisha in Japan's Shonen Jump and VIZ Media in the American Shonen Jump. The anime series is produced by Studio Pierrot and Aniplex for TV Tokyo and Animax with VIZ Media having gone through multiple networks over the years. I don't own the series, I make no money out of doing this. Please support the official release.

Hello everyone and welcome to another chapter of Slug Prince! Some of you may have already guessed that this story was inspired by Tsunade's Apprentice by curve-goddess. I found the concept fascinating and wanted to try it myself, only I wanted to move it further back. And then Shikamaru kept finding his way into the plot. So anyway, Thank you for faving and commenting and just to clear some stuff up:

Danzo – I myself saw a lot of Naruto in his character when they showed his past and part of me thought that if he ever had some time with Naruto he'd notice it. To those who are surprised by his turnaround there are other things at play that will come out in later chapters that will explain why he seemed so much more emotional than he ought to have been.

NejiNaruShika – This IS going to be a slash. Eventually. The M is more to do with the violence in the coming fights. Plus, this story is listed as Adventure and Romance. Romance. So if you're coming here looking for hot yaoi then (1) This is grouping currently comprises of two thirteen year olds and a fifteen year old. I'm not going to go illegal underage with this and (2) They're going to be romancing each other before anything else.

Team 7 – Team 7 is going to undergo a serious change in dynamic when it's reformed and even I'm not sure how much it will change.

Sakura – Yeah, she stole Jiraiya and she's 13. She cheated and it will get covered the next time we see her.

Updates – Probably every 2-3 days. I'm feeling ambitious.

Chapter Two: High Emotion! A new Teacher explodes onto the Scene!

In the village of the Hidden Leaf; a Chuunin Proctor was dead and the members of ANBU, elite ninja in the service of the Hokage, were on high alert. Orochimaru was nearby and Yakushi Kabuto had been revealed as a traitor. Even more distressing was the news of the alliance between Orochimaru and the Kazekage of Sunagakure. Hiruzen had not revealed this bit of information to the Elders because to do so would compromise his newfound source. The Sandaime Hokage walked to the window of his office and whispered "Thank you, Naruto."

Tenten winced in pain as she made her way home from helping her teammates training. After two weeks of helping Neji perfect his Hakkesho Kaiten, she was feeling bruises everywhere. In truth she was holding back in the exercises, not out of a hesitance for injuring a teammate but for her own sake. In her match with Subaku no Temari, the Sand Sibling had driven her folded fan into the Konoha Kunoichi's back. She had walked home after the match but her back had continued to trouble her. She pulled out her Iryo-nin scroll and wondered if she should try using Shosen Jutsu again, but shook her head. She had long given up trying to be a Legendary Iryo-nin like her idol Tsunade-sama, when she had tried to perform Shosen Jutsu the fish had quickly died. She considered what had happened to her team. She had been defeated humiliatingly quickly, Lee was in hospital and would probably never return to being a ninja and Neji….. Neji had revealed a darkness in his soul that she hadn't seen before. To think he could inflict so much damage on his own cousin….. Suddenly Tenten's back exploded into spasms of pain. She fell to her knees and saw the floor getting closer when she felt someone catch her. She felt her body being lifted up. She looked up to see who her Samaritan but soon didn't need to see a face. There was only one person in Konoha that wore that much orange. "Naruto?"

The Orange Genin of Konoha had been on his way to visit Tenten and saw her collapse. She said his name and then passed out. Holding her in his arms he made his way to her family's shop. Tenten's family didn't use their surname except for trade. They were Konoha's specialty blacksmiths, when ninja wanted to pay the higher price for better quality weapons. Her father, Katanakaji, had begun creating weapons and tools with built in Fuinjutsu. His bestselling piece were nunchaku with Fujutsu Kyuin built in. He got through the door and made his way to the stairs and what he guessed would be her room until…

"TENTEN?" The voice boomed and a large man sporting a mullet with spiked hair and holding a hammer burst through a wall to stand before Naruto. "What have you done to my daughter you ruffian?" Katanakaji suddenly ripped his shirt off to reveal a heavily muscled torso. "If you think you can attack my darling daughter and then sneak like an eel into my place of business and into my abode then I shall have to show you why I am called the Everlasting Titan of the Hidden Leaf!" With that he struck a pose that made his muscles bulge and shine in the light.

_He's kind of like Caterpillar-brows and Bushy Brows-Sensei. _"No Sir! Your daughter collapsed so I brought her here ya know? A-and I have been studying Iryo Ninjutsu so I thought I could find out what was wrong ya know and treat it before you knew so she didn't get in trouble for overdoing it with her training."

Naruto kept his eyes closed, waiting for his head to be knocked off. When that didn't happen he opened his eyes. The Everlasting Titan of the Hidden Life was crying, his hammer lying forgotten on the floor. "That there is such a True Gentleman in your generation who would do such a thing for a fellow ninja. ORANGE GARBED IRYO-NIN-IN-TRAINING! I AM DEEPLY MOVED!" Katanakaji patted Naruto's shoulder with such force that he wondered if he'd need Shosen Jutsu for himself. "Tenten's room is thought Orange Gentleman. Might I know you're name as you know mine?" Naruto made his way up.

"My name's Uzumaki Naruto, future Hokage."

When Tenten woke she could tell it was night time. She took a moment to assess her surroundings. She was in her room and she was on her front with her face on its side to allow her to breath. And her top had been removed. She immediately surged up to cover herself and froze. There was no shooting pain or spasms in her back. In fact it was better than ever. She checked herself over and all of the bruises from training with Neji were healed too. She refastened her top and turned to see Naruto enter her room with a tray of food and a bundle of scrolls. "What is the meaning of this?"

Naruto looked at her with a vacant look. "Your Dad made dinner and I brought some up in case you'd woken up. Your Dad handed me these scrolls to go over if what I was doing wasn't enough. They're actually what I had come to see you about so it's kinda funny if you don't count the part where you passed out ya know?"

Tenten took a moment to look at her Orange Samaritan. He was different. He wasn't wearing his jacket and he had taken off his hitai-ate. She could see he had a gem on his forehead, and through the mesh-shirt she could see what appeared to be a tattoo on his belly that was…. Fading? The Team Guy Kunoichi considered herself an authority on Fuinjutsu , it was her specialty in her team, so she knew that she was seeing. The one on Naruto's belly was a mystery but she could recognise the gem on the Orange Genin's forehead was clearly the Yin Seal that Tsunade-hime herself had used. These details were curious enough but what he had said raised further questions. For her father to have given Naruto her Iryo-ninjutsu scrolls, it would mean that Naruto was the reason her back was fine and her injuries had healed. It didn't gel in her head. When she had seen Naruto in combat he had been clumsy and often resorted to Kage Bunshin no Jutsu and pranks. Furthermore, to have done such a good job he would need to have an incredibly high level of Chakra control. "Naruto, what are you doing with Tsunade-hime's seal on your head, why do you want to look at my scrolls and when did you learn Iryo-ninjutsu?"

Naruto pulled his jacket back on and sat next to Tenten while she took the dinner out of his hands. "The Yin Seal is actually an Uzumaki Clan Fuinjutsu. Tsunade's Grandma used the same Fuinjutsu and her name was Uzumaki Mito. I got the Uzumaki Scrolls a little over a week ago and when I saw the name of Tsunade I thought of your speech so I thought you'd probably have more information on her. I've been practising Iryo-ninjutsu about the same amount of time. The Uzumaki Clan specialised in Fuinjutsu but they also had a bunch of Iryo-ninjutsu exercises." Tenten felt a cold sweat on the back of her neck. Iryo-ninjutsu required perfect Chakra control and the Dead Last Genin had apparently mastered Shosen Jutsu?

"Naruto, you know if you're really wanting to going up against Neji you can't just have Fuinjutsu and Iryo-ninjutsu. Neji is a Juken Genius and now that he's mastered … I can't tell you. Can't Hatake-san teach you some more Taijutsu or some long range Ninjutsu?"

Naruto chuckled, more to himself than at Tenten, "It's alright Ten-chan, this Yin Seal is handier than you might realise. And Kakashi-sensei is too busy with Uchiha."

The door burst from its hinges and Katanakaji entered looking furious. And holding two bowls of ice cream. "NARUTO-KUN! I came to bring you and Tenten-hime some delicious desert but your words have stolen the joy that I had intended to serve you with. How can your Sensei not want to see such a Gentleman-ninja succeed?"

Naruto took a moment to recover from the shock of the intrusion then simply sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "It is decided then! I shall teach you Taijutsu and help you train as reward for your skills in helping my Beloved Daughter!" Tenten was a deep red by this point.

Naruto on the other hand felt no such embarrassment. He leapt into the air and hugged his new Sensei. "Thank you Mullet-sensei! I look forward to any task you set for me!" Tenten held her breath, expecting an explosion at the nickname.

Instead her father pulled the boy into a tighter hug. "To think that a teacher and student can become close enough to bestow nicknames after such a short time. IT IS SO MOVING! WAAAAAGH!" The hug and the crying and laughing continued till they managed to collect themselves. "Naruto, I must give you a nickname too. As you have mastered techniques of the Legendary Sannin Tsunade, the Slug Princess I shall call you Slug Prince! Come here tomorrow at dawn and we shall begin your training. Tenten-hime, after I have cleaned the dishes I shall come up to say goodnight, then your friend needs to go home okay?" Tenten nodded and Katanakaji left.

Tenten turned to Naruto, "How do you do that?"

Naruto looked at the kunoichi with a confused look. "Do what?" Tenten sighed, of course. She noticed some messy stitching on his jacket and trousers, some of them looked fresh.

"Naruto, are you having money trouble?" Naruto sputtered at this, was it really that obvious? Then how come nobody else had?

"It's nothing new ya know, I got basic living expenses while I was at the Academy, and I get some from missions. According to the Uzumaki Scrolls I think I might have an inheritance but the accounts are apparently at a post station near to the village but we can't leave unless we're in our team or are at least Chuunin. I tried looking for Kakashi-sensei and I left a message like a week ago but I've not heard from him, and if I even try asking Pervy Sage Jiraiya then Sakura tells me to back off of "her" Sensei." Tenten fumed. Basic living expenses or not, she knew for a fact that missions paid well enough to buy decent clothes to replace damaged ones. It meant that someone on Team 7 was helping themselves to Naruto's cut and the Orange Genin was too naïve to realise. She decided she had to help him out.

"Uh Naruto, if you're finding Iryo-ninjutsu so interesting have you thought of getting some work at the Medical Centre? I used to work there between missions when I first joined Team Gai and I could probably get you an interview."

Naruto smiled and nodded in gratitude then got a serious look. "Ten-chan, why did you switch from Iryo-ninjutsu to Fuinjutsu? You seemed really into becoming the next Tsunade." It was Tenten's turn to look serious.

"It turns out I have no real talent for Iryo-ninjutsu. I have plenty of Chakra reserves and stamina but I just don't have that level of accuracy like I do with weapons. But that's fine. Even if I can't perform Iryo-ninjutsu, I know I can still be a splendid kunoichi like Tsunade-hime." Naruto started laughing, Tenten looked confused so Naruto explained.

"Tenten, just then you sounded like Caterpillar-brows!" Tenten blushed but joined in. When they finished, they both thought about Lee's condition. Naruto got up and turned to the kunoichi. "Tenten, I'm going to work my hardest at my Iryo-ninjutsu and find a way to help Lee recover. I promise." He smiled and gave her a thumb up. Tenten blushed, the Nice Guy Pose was used by Lee and Guy-sensei when they made an "unbreakable vow". She realised that Naruto had every intention of making this promise happen and she actually believed him.

"Thankyou Naruto, but can I ask one more favour of you?" Naruto nodded. "I know that with Lee in hospital it would seem that he's the only one of our team in trouble, but I must confess I am more worried about Neji. What he did to Hinata was so brutal and angry, like nothing I had seen before. I fear he has started on a dark path of hatred and I don't think I can get him off of it. Can you try and help him?"

Naruto looked at her with a serious face. "I promised to beat him, now I'll beat some sense into him too. It must have something to do with the Hyuuga Clan, what do you know about him?"

Tenten considered his question. "Not much, he doesn't really like to talk about himself. I know his father died around ten years ago and he's a member of the Branch House, the protectors of the Main House. Hinata is his paternal cousin; their fathers were twins, Neji's father was the younger of them which is why he's in the Branch House. Aside from that I can't think of anything else. Do you want to head to the medical centre tomorrow after Dad's training session?" Naruto nodded and made his way to the door. "Naruto? Will you do it? Will you save Neji?"

Naruto opened the door and gave her the Nice Guy Pose again. "Count on it Ten-chan! You can tell Fuzzy Brows-sensei that I promise to help Team Gai!"

Outside Naruto made his way home and considered the direction his day had gone; He had successfully performed Shosen Jutsu on another person and obtained new Iryo-ninjutsu scrolls that were connected to a Legendary Sannin. He had gained a new friend and with it came the possibility of a paying job and some proper taijutsu training. He had also promised to restore Team Gai. He wondered if he should have brought up what he had discovered during his research, maybe but he decided he wasn't going to use the information unless it was absolutely necessary.

_He cleared his throat and stepped up to the gate. "Hi there! I'm Uzumaki Naruto and I'm your Jinchukiri ya know! Listen, your Chakra leaks out a bit and it's been really hand at times but I would really like to be able to turn it on and off so I've set up a Yin Seal to store the Chakra for when I need it. Now since your living in me your more like a tenant so let's make that Red Chakra your rent and you just send it there ya know!" The fox hit the gate hard. _

"_Insolent brat! Do you know who I am?" The fox snarled with contempt at his newest Jinchukiri. _

"_No I don't, so what's your name?" _

"_I am….. what did you just say?" _

_Naruto moved closer to the cage. "I asked you your name. You know mine and if we're going to work together I should know my Comrades name. _

_Kyuubi snorted. "Comrades with a brat like you? Besides, what makes you think I'd have a name?" _

_The words of Uchiha Madara circled in his mind. "You are just a mass of Chakra to be used by strong ninja like me." _

"_Everyone should have a name, how can we acknowledge each other if we don't know each other's names? I can't very well say thankyou fox or thankyou ninetails ya know?" The demon fox known to many as Kyuubi wasn't sure he could control himself at this point. He began to growl. "You seem to be angry a lot ya know? Maybe if we could be friends you wouldn't have to be so angry all the time ya know?" _

_The fox collected himself and tried to sound as tough as possible. "How about this brat, I'll send Chakra to your new seal and you can do whatever you like with it. If I am impressed then I will give you my name." Naruto grinned. _

"_Deal."_


	3. Chapter 3

Naruto is a manga series by Masashi Kishimoto published by Shueisha in Japan's Shonen Jump and VIZ Media in the American Shonen Jump. The anime series is produced by Studio Pierrot and Aniplex for TV Tokyo and Animax with VIZ Media having gone through multiple networks over the years. I don't own the series, I make no money out of doing this. Please support the official release.

Hey guys, it's me again with another hot plate of Slug. Hope you all liked my idea for Tenten's dad, he is sooo much fun to write. In this chapter we are going to cover more of Naruto's growth before we finally get back to the main story. Also we're going to catch up on some members of Team 7. Till next time!

Chapter Three: Everything's New! New teacher, new job and new training!

"To find what Affinity someone has, pieces of paper made from a special type of tree (that are grown and fed with Chakra" are used that react to even the slightest hint of Chakra in any of a number of ways, depending on the nature latent in the Chakra. A Fire Affinity will ignite the paper and turn it to ash. A Wind Affinity will split the paper in two. A Lightning Affinity will wrinkle the paper. An Earth Affinity will cause the paper to turn to dirt and crumble away. Finally, those with a Water Affinity will make the paper wet or damp." Copy-ninja Kakashi held a piece of paper out to his prized student Uchiha Sasuke. "If I am to teach you my special technique we need to see that you have the right Affinity.

Sasuke paused as he reached out for the paper. "Where's Uzumaki? He's in the next stage of the exams too." He wasn't sure why he started to care about Naruto's development. He knew that to wake the Mangekyo he had to kill his best friend but since the mission where they fought Zabuza he had felt an…. affection. Maybe this is what it was to have a friend. He decided to let the emotion run through him, he needed a real friend; he couldn't awaken the Mangekyo by killing a fake friend.

"Uzumaki Naruto has proven that he isn't ready to become a Chuunin. You do. Now take this paper." Sasuke lifted the paper up and the reaction was almost instantaneous. The paper wrinkled till it looked ancient and burst into a brilliant flame that continued to burn for some time. "Well then, it appears you have an Affinity for Fire and Lightning. Excellent."

"Hey, hey! Mullet-sensei, I thought you were going to teach me Taijutsu ya know? Why do I need to do this paper test thing?" Katanakaji pushed the paper forward again, with a more resolute face this time.

"With your lack of training in certain basics and mastery of high level Jutsus, simple Taijutsu is the wrong way to go with such a short time left. I shall teach you Nintaijutsu, close combat that incorporates Ninjutsu in the attack. I shall also train you in the use of a weapon that best suits your elemental Affinity. Now let's get on with this."

Naruto held the paper tightly and waited for it to react. Suddenly, the paper fell apart. "Ah, a Wind Affinity. Very good, I have just the… wait." Katanakaji and Naruto looked again as the paper then went on to wrinkle. "Lightning Nature. It's a bit delayed, which suggests it's perhaps only developing now that you're learning Iryo-ninjutsu."

Naruto gave him a confused look. "Why would me learning something affect my affinity?" Katanakaji picked up the pieces of paper and scrunched it in his hand.

"There is always the potential to learn different elements even without having an affinity, but an affinity can change with our bodies too. Iryo-ninjutsu deals with the body and the body doesn't just have Chakra flowing around it. There's also electrical signals coming from the brain. You were clearly born with a Wind Affinity but your new experiences with this difficult area of Ninjutsu has forced your body to adapt." Naruto nodded in understanding,

"I see. So what are you going to train me in? Swords? Staves?" Katanakaji stood and brought down an ornate box. It was decorated with Wind iconography. He opened the box to reveal two black tessen, iron fans. "Fans? I'm going to beat Neji with little fans? That Suna kunoichi at least had a giant one but these?" Katanakaji picked one of them and flung it across the room towards a training dummy. The tessen sliced through the dummy and lodged itself six inches into the stone wall. After retrieving it, Katanakaji handed them both to an awed Naruto.

"I found these tessen on the battlefield during the Third Shinobi War. There's no record of them so we named them Swirl and Swoop, they are made from a steel that never dulls and never misses. Tessenjutsu greatly complements Wind Style jutsus, you will be able to channel Wind Chakra into your attacks. The speed and sharpness will increase at least tenfold"

They began training and once Naruto got over his reluctance towards using weapons that looked so flimsy, he found he had a natural talent for tessenjutsu. "So you fought in the Third Shinobi War Mullet-sensei? Why aren't you a Jonin ya know?" Katanakaji surged forward and floored is student.

"I will not talk about it until you have fought in a real battle. You will not understand what I have experienced until then." Naruto looked at his sensei and it was a look he had seen in his teammates during the mission to the Land of Waves, something he had felt too.

"Someone you knew died. A comrade." Katanakaji looked at him in shock. That someone so young could see the pain in others….

Naruto sat himself back up. "It was a mission in the Land of Waves, we walked into a fight way above our rank ya know? Zabuza and his student, a boy with special abilities called Haku. Haku…. Was better than any of us and he managed to skewer Sasuke with a ton of senbon. I thought he was dead. I knew from then on that we could die during a mission, that the life of a ninja was dangerous. It probably doesn't compare to what you musta seen ya know, but I think I get why you wouldn't want to do it anymore. You can't bear to see your comrades die but you still want to help so you make stuff that can protect them."

Katanakaji didn't get the chance to reply because that was when Tenten appeared. "Naruto-kun! We need to get going if you want to reach your interview on time! Grab a shower and I'll pack your things." Naruto nodded and ran out. The young kunoichi collected the tessenjutsu scrolls and put them in Naruto's bag with Swirl and Swoop and waved goodbye to her Dad before running out. The weaponsmaster of Konoha sat down and sobbed. How could this child have gone through so much by his age that he could empathise with a shell-shocked former ANBU? He had removed himself from the affairs of other ninja for nearly twenty years after the death of his first wife. His second wife ran a small smithy and when he started working there he soon turned it into what it was today. He kept his former comrades safe and provided for his family, but the hurt remained. The loss of Mai had nearly killed him, there was barely anything left of him when he met Hana. Naruto wanted to be Hokage, and Katanakaji believed he would. He was his father's son.

At the Konoha Medical Centre, the Iryo-nin Mitate was again looking at Rock Lee's lab results. His body was a mess. It seemed most of his bones had been broken at some time or another and the strain of opening his Chakra gates had shaken his old injuries open. All of this combined with the damage done by a partial Sabaku Kyu had destroyed this young man. That this boy was recovering at all was a miracle. He desperately wanted something to show to Might Guy that would give him hope. It had broken Mitate's heart to see a man he had seen as a role model for pushing yourself to succeed just sitting outside a room for days on end. "Mitate-sensei!" Mitate turned to the source of the voice to see his old assistant. When he had just started at the centre, a young girl had started to follow him around. Her name was Tenten. She said she wanted to be a splendid kunoichi like Tsunade. But it had become apparent that she had no ability when it came to Iryo-ninjutsu and she had stopped coming not long after. Earlier that day she had surprised him with a visit and a request. She had a friend in the Chuunin exams who had little to no money and had been learning Iryo-ninjutsu and Fuinjutsu. From what she had said he had real talent.

He smiled, "Tenten, it's good to see you so soon after your last visit. Have you brought this potential staff member?" She nodded and brought his attention to an orange-garbed blonde. His hitai-ate was tied around his neck, his cheeks had markings like whiskers and he had a diamond fixed to his forehead. Uzumaki Naruto's appearance had changed since he had last seen him. "Uzumaki, I must be frank with you. From what I have seen you can't possibly be the same person Tenten was telling me about. In your fight with Inuzuka you showed poor Chakra control and won through luck."

Tenten pulled Mitate to face her. "Mitate-sensei, Naruto-kun has been training non-stop and used Shosen-jutsu perfectly." Mitate knew Tenten wasn't in the habit of lying so decided to give her the benefit of the doubt for this.

"Alright then, Naruto; you're a member of Team Seven right? What has Hatake-san taught you?" Naruto seemed uncomfortable at this.

"Tree walking." Mitate motioned for him to continue, "that's it."

Mitate dropped his files, "What? But he's had you for six months! He nominated your team for the Chuunin Exams! Have you learned nothing else?"

Naruto nodded, "I met a ninja called Jiraiya who taught me water walking. Then there was a ninja called Shimura who gave me the Uzumaki Clan Scrolls and I started working through them by myself and today I started learning Tessenjutsu with Ten-chan's father. According to the Chakra paper test I have an Affinity for Wind and Lightning." Mitate was stunned. If Tenten and Naruto were both telling the truth then Naruto was a self-taught Iryo-ninjutsu prodigy. And the names he had mentioned. Jiraiya was the Legendary Toad Sage, and yet he had apparently walked away from being this Genin's Mentor? The second name gave him further pause. Shimura Danzo was a conservative man and a powerful ninja with a long history of fighting for Konoha from the shadows. Out of all the ninja Naruto had met it was DANZO that had given the boy a chance to flourish?

"I can put you on the rota for general medical assistance; bed side manor, a bit of paperwork and cataloguing stock. I'll give you some exercises to work on and if by the end of the week I'm satisfied I'll move you into a "nursing" position until we can properly put you into the Medical Program, which would probably be after the Chuunin exams." Mitate took out a pen and wrote on a piece of paper. "This will be your hourly wage, and if you want to start as soon as I could do with.." he was interrupted by a yell from the blonde Genin.

"This much an hour? Gimme a two hour shift and that's more than I'd make in one mission!" Tenten and Mitate shared a look, Iryo-nin salary was quite comfortable but for those just startng it was worse than Genin mission pay, a way of weeding out those who weren't committed to the level of study Iryo-ninjutsu required. If this rate of pay was better in Naruto's eyes, then someone had been taking most of Naruto's pay.

"Alright, things to do ya know! Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Suddenly there was a small fleet of Uzumaki's in the corridor. The original stepped forward. "Alright guys, you lot go to the training grounds, you guys go home and work on Mitate-sensei's jutsu exercises. The rest of us are gonna work here the rest of the day. Mitate-sensei, just point us where you need us, ya know?" Mitate felt a cold sweat coming down the back of his neck. What had he agreed to?

Mitate desperately tried to pull the files from his pupil, "Naruto! These are Lee's personal files! You aren't authorised to read them!" Naruto pulled again.

"How am I supposed to fix him if you won't show me what's wrong?"

"Idiot! I'm supposed to fix him! You're not an official Iryo-nin yet! Stop pretending you are!" Naruto hadn't needed a week to prepare for his test; he'd completed them all before the end of his second shift. He had even managed to efficiently co-ordinate all his clones across the entire Medical Centre. Mitate was ready to believe that he would go down in history as the man who trained the Greatest Iryo-nin in History. The only problem was that Naruto was very eager to reach the next level. He had taken to wearing an Iryo-nin uniform, beige shoes and trousers, beige high collared longcoat and a beige bandana. He had customised it with an orange sash wrapped around his waist and the Uzumaki Clan crest decorating the shoulders and back.

Naruto had managed to get a copy of Lee file in the end and was studying it at Ichiraku Ramen when he saw a familiar face walk by. "Shikamaru! Hey! Wanna have some ramen with me?" The lazy Genin walked over to his friend to see if he could get a free meal.

"It would be a bother to pay for a meal I've been invited to Naruto." Naruto shook his head.

"It's fine Shika, I'm making good money now, I can definitely pay for you ya know?" Shikamaru noticed a coat from the Medical Centre and the folder Naruto was looking at was clearly also from the Medical Centre. He sat down next to his old pranking friend and asked him.

"Naruto, why does it look like your studying to be an Iryo-nin?" Naruto handed Shikamaru a bowl of ramen.

"Uh, because I am? I'm actually already an unofficial Iryo-nin at the moment, they aren't bringing anyone onto the program until after the Chuunin exams are finished but I finished the basic Medical Staff training and I've been helping with various treatments too. Right now I'm trying to see if there's anything the others missed about Caterpillar-brows prognosis. I think there might be a way if we could just get his Chakra working harder ya know?" Shikamaru didn't know that, he also didn't know what had happened to his friend. He had gone from a rough and tumble prankster to a 'cheerful and ambitious Doctor'.

"Naruto, you do know we've got the Chuunin exams coming soon? And you said you were gonna wipe the floor with Hyuuga freaking Neji? How is performing surgery going to make you able to beat a Juken prodigy? It would be such a bother if after all that noise you went and failed." Naruto lifted a piece of wood and ran his hand over it in a pattern. Letters began to appear, carved into the wood; 'Intense situations gives birth to rapid growth'.

"Iryo-ninjutsu requires mega accuracy ya know? I now have much better control over my Chakra and I have come up with a number of ways to beat an opponent. I've also been training with Tenten's Dad. He says I've made serious progress. I'll be more than ready to face Neji." Shikamaru didn't get it. He just wanted to live an ordinary life and do as little as possible, get married and have some kids then retire early so he can spend his days looking at clouds and playing Shogi.

"Why do you want to work so hard? It's such a bother." Naruto shook his head and ordered some more ramen.

"You don't get it Shika! Ya work hard now and get to the highest level of your field then you can get what you want. At the Medical Centre, the best Iryo-nin get their pick of cases. They can get away with one a month if they are that good." Shikamaru hadn't thought of that. Low-level ninja don't really get the option to have their pick of missions like the top-tier ones. The jobs would obviously be harder and bothersome but the level of time off he could get…. This changed things. Maybe Asuma-sensei was still in the mood for training…. "Hey Shika do you wanna drop in and see Caterpillar-brows tomorrow? Maybe he can convince you to not be such a lazy ass." He grinned, his way of convincing people to do what he wants. He sighed, it would be too much of a bother to start seriously training now and it might be nice to see if this Lee guy had any training pointers he could use.

They entered Lee's room to find the red headed boy from Sunagakure standing over their fellow Konoha Genin, his sand swirling over the bed like a serpent preparing to strike. "What do you think you're doing?" Naruto yelled as the red head turned.

"I was trying to kill him." He made to approach them but found himself frozen in place. He looked down to see his shadow being touched by another shadow. Shikamaru held the red head in Kagemane no Jutsu.

"Why is there a need for you to do that? You already beat him, what is your grudge with a crippled Genin?" Shikamaru found himself worrying, the red head had been utterly calm despite their interruption and despite his paralysis. Could he still manipulate his sands? Were his teammates nearby and watching? This situation was fast becoming less bothersome and more dangerous.

"I have no grudge." Both Konoha Genin looked at the red head in shock. "I'm going to kill him just because I want to kill him."


	4. Chapter 4

Naruto is a manga series by Masashi Kishimoto published by Shueisha in Japan's Shonen Jump and VIZ Media in the American Shonen Jump. The anime series is produced by Studio Pierrot and Aniplex for TV Tokyo and Animax with VIZ Media having gone through multiple networks over the years. I don't own the series, I make no money out of doing this. Please support the official release.

Hello everyone! It's another hot plate of Slug. Slightly smaller slice today but I hope you still like it.

Katanakaji – He's something huh? Here's the thing, I'd like to go in a certain direction with this guy that could lead to him becoming sort of a Gary Stu. Y'know those two other people on Team Jiraiya? The kid with squinted eyes and tanned skin? Yeah.

Okay so this is eventually going to be a three-way relationship between three guys. What I wanna know is: What's your favourite Het, Yaoi, Yuri and 3way from Naruto?

Chapter Four: A Reason To Live! Gaara's Darkened View!

They entered Lee's room to find the red headed boy from Sunagakure standing over their fellow Konoha Genin, his sand swirling over the bed like a serpent preparing to strike. "What do you think you're doing?" Naruto yelled as the red head turned. "I was trying to kill him." He made to approach them but found himself frozen in place. He looked down to see his shadow being touched by another shadow. Shikamaru held the red head in Kagemane no Jutsu, "Why is there a need for you to do that? You already beat him, what is your grudge with a crippled Genin?" Shikamaru found himself worrying, the red head had been utterly calm despite their interruption and despite his paralysis. Could he still manipulate his sands? Were his teammates nearby and watchin? This situation was fast becoming less bothersome and more dangerous. "I have no grudge." Both Konoha Genin looked at the red head in shock. "I'm going to kill him just because I want to kill him."

"WHAT THE HELL! YOU SELFISH PRICK! YOU THINK YOU CAN PEOPLE ON A WHIM? WHAT KIND OF SPOILT BRAT ARE YOU!" Naruto raged from his position stood next to Shikamaru as they tried to stare down the visiting ninja from Sunagakure. Shikamaru tried to think. This guy is acting far too calm about everything. And he's dangerous. I don't know what kind of training Naruto has been getting but going from my own ability and what I know, if we fight now we'll be killed.

Naruto tapped Shikamaru's shoulder and nodded for him to move them to Lee. With Kagemane in effect Gaara was forced to walk round and soon they were stood where each other had been. The Sand still lingered over Lee's body. "If you get in my way I'll kill you too." Gaara's expression didn't change.

"Oh, yeah?" Naruto's hand tapped the nearby table and a seal popped into the air. "That was my personal alarm seal. All my Kage's have been alerted and they'll inform the medical staff and all the ninja in the area. Do you really think you can get away with killing three ninja before someone shows up?"

Shikamaru shivered, when did Naruto learn to create such a useful Jutsu? "Naruto! Stop provoking this guy, his strength is monstrous!" Naruto snorted, causing both Shikamaru and Gaara to stare at the Genin with confusion.

"I've got a real monster in me, I won't lose to a No-brows Creep like you." Naruto grinned, not with a prankster's glee like Shikamaru had seen so often. This grin was one of confidence one's abilities. Heh, with his blonde hair and his Medical Centre long-coat Naruto looked a lot like the pictures of the Yondaime Hokage.

Gaara looked pensive, "A monster, huh? Then it's the same for me." The two Konoha Genin looked surprised. "On my father, the Kazekage's, orders I was infused with the living incarnation of Sand, Shukaku. I killed the one I would have called "Mother" on the day I was born. I was born a monster."

Shukaku? The name vibrated in the mind of the Orange Genin. "Shukaku isn't a sand spirit Naruto. He's a weak-ass tailed beast and the whiniest relative possible. Don't let him take control of the brat Naruto. His voice grates." Naruto did his best to hide his shock. He's like me?

Shikamaru forced a snort. With any luck, a show of bravado will make him look less scared. "A possession Jutsu at birth? Is that something a parent does? What a strange expression of love."

"Love?" Gaara snorted at the word derisively. "Don't judge me with your measuring stick." He took a moment to move the Sand around them threateningly. "Family? Let me tell you something about my 'family'. They're just pieces of rancid meat swimming around me with hatred and murderous intent. Killing my mother proved my power, showed them I could be Sunagakure's masterpiece weapon. My father, the Kazekage, taught me the shinobi secrets and spoiled me, let me do as I pleased. I thought that was love until….."

Naruto and Shikamaru pressed Gaara to continue. "Until what?"

Gaara grinned as his eyes increased in size and the blood vessels became visible, making the previously emotionless ninja look unhinged. "Until I was six years old, whereupon he decided to send assassins every day to kill me!" Gaara continued to smile his disturbing smile. "The village realised how dangerous I was and began to fear me. My father saw me as Suna's trump card in a battle but realised I was a very dangerous being. To the village I am a constant reminder of their violent past that they wished would disappear."

Suddenly "DYNAMIC ENTRY!" A green streak burst through the door and slammed into the red haired ninja. Maito Gai held Gaara pinned to the ground on his belly. "What is the meaning of these hijinks in this room while my precious subordinate is convalescing?" Shikamaru grimaced, Gai clearly knew what was happening. He must have got Naruto's alarm. Gaara moved and faced the two Genin again.

"Surrounded by hatred I began to wonder why I existed, why I lived. I couldn't think of anything. But if one lives one needs a reason. Otherwise you're no better than the dead." Shikamaru and Gai looked confused. What? Naruto stared at the Suna weapon and felt as though he was looking into a mirror.

He's like me. Like us. The fox stirred. We've lived alone and surrounded by hatred. We strived to find recognition, a reason to live. When Iruka-sensei acknowledged me I got my reason and the pain of loneliness didn't hurt as much. This… this poor fellow ninja. He hasn't had that. He only found a reason to exist by killing others. I felt alive when my pranks got me attention, any attention. He only felt alive by ending lives. We are so alike, yet it's like we're from totally different worlds.

Gaara concentrated his Sand and pushed. Gai ended up against the wall, still battle ready. "Let me feel alive again then!" Gaara raved. "Let me kill you. Come!" Naruto walked over to him. Shikamaru began to sweat. Gai had undone the Kagemane and there was no way the young Nara Clan member could call up the Chakra to do it again. Whatever Naruto did, Shikamaru couldn't back him up.

Naruto laid his hand on Gaara's shoulder. "Hello Gaara, I'm Uzumaki Naruto. I'm going to heal the damage you've inflicted on Caterpillar-brows and I'm going to heal you're broken heart so that the love you feel won't just be a tattoo on your head." Gaara's Sand crumbled as the words unsettled the red head. He suddenly felt himself being lifted. "I look forward to fighting you." Naruto then threw him out the window.

"What do you mean that wasn't an alarm!" Shikamaru screamed. The window had been repaired and Gai was performing an unusual prayer at Lee's bedside. 'Sending healing vibes' as the unusual ninja said. Naruto smirked.

"The seal cancelled all my Kages. The Jutsu spreads my Chakra across them all so by cancelling it I would be facing No-brows at full power. Do you not remember the Patrol Rota's we copied for our pranks. Jonin and Chunin that are on duty aren't anywhere near the Medical Centre at this time of day. I was bluffing, ya know." Shikamaru couldn't believe what he was hearing. Naruto gave Shikamaru's arm a squeeze. "It worked out fine Shika. Do you wanna get some ramen?" Shikamaru blushed.

"I-uh have to go. I h-have training to do. Last week before the exams right?" He made a hasty exit leaving a bewildered Naruto. Shakamaru took a deep breath. He was a slacker at heart and had always planned a life of small effort followed by a plain woman for marriage, children and a quick retirement. He had always thought women were tiresome and annoying, but he also knew he was reaching an age where he was going to start 'noticing' people. He had thought that he would start seeing women as less of a bother but that hadn't changed. His teammate was proof of that.

He knew he was pretty smart, but there had been one possibility he hadn't thought of. Naruto.

Gai finished his prayer and turned towards the Orange Genin. "I was talking to Tenten the other day and she told me something interesting about you." Naruto wasn't sure if Gai was upset or not and decided he couldn't back out of the coming conversation.

"I made a promise and I'm going to keep it." He again made the Nice Guy Pose. "I will give it my all and heal all of Team Gai! I will save Neji from his darkness and I will find a way to get Lee back to tip-top condition." Gai welled up and pulled Naruto into a hug.

"AUUUUUUUGH! NARUTO! I NEVER REALISED LEE HAD MADE SUCH CLOSE FRIENDS THAT THEY WOULD WANT TO HELP SO MUCH!" Gai bawled out some more things but Naruto couldn't quite understand everything. Something about 'flames', 'youth' and 'springtime'. Gai finally collected himself and handed a parcel to Naruto. "As a token of my gratitude take this, it should help greatly with your training." Naruto nodded and left Gai to continue his prayers.

Danzo Shimura felt his whole body clench in agony and fell from his chair. "Trouble, Danzo-san?" A voice croaked from the shadows. A pale man with long jet-black hair emerged and took the fallen ROOT Leader's seat. "Are my enhancements troubling you?" Danzo snorted. He was well aware of Orochimaru's failsafe. A special Genjutsu placed in the skin. If the Snake Sannin wanted he could kill Danzo on a whim. "Are the arrangements made?"

Danzo sat up. "I have withdrawn all ROOT members. They believe it is an important mission. When you attack you will have only Konoha's regular forces and Sarutobi's ANBU to face." Bile rose in his throat as he toadied to the whims of a traitor.

"You hate me don't you Danzo?" Danzo blinked. "I know and I understand, you old Warhawk. I 'betrayed' Konoha. Pah! I just wanted to learn the secrets of immortality! The fact remains that you needed me to give you your enhancement so you have to accept my price. Otogakure and Sunagakure will invade and I will collect my new samples. Then Otogakure will pull out and leave you to return like Big Damn Heroes. You'll no doubt become the next Hokage and anything you want will be done by the council that will see you were right all along about keeping vigilant. The Kazekage is already dead and they won't find out until I'm already gone. The plan is perfect Danzo." Danzo stood up, his face grey.

"Did you have anything else to say or did you just want to see me sprawl on the ground?" Orochimaru chuckled and moved over to the door.

"Pleasure doing business with you, Godaime Hokage. Hahaha!" He sank into the ground as if swallowed by the shadows themself.

The Warhawk of Konoha went back to his desk and reached for his secret drawer. Imported Whisky. His other secret vice, after ramen at Ichiraku, was a sizable drink of Glenfiddich. As the drink burned its way down his throat he thought of his last visit to Ichiraku. "Naruto, had I only shared ramen with you sooner."


	5. Chapter 5

Naruto is a manga series by Masashi Kishimoto published by Shueisha in Japan's Shonen Jump and VIZ Media in the American Shonen Jump. The anime series is produced by Studio Pierrot and Aniplex for TV Tokyo and Animax with VIZ Media having gone through multiple networks over the years. I don't own the series, I make no money out of doing this. Please support the official release.

Hello everyone and welcome to another hot plate of Slug! Katanakaji's gets a bit of an airing out and Shikamaru looks to Asuma for advice. Almost time for the Chunin exams and the fight you've been waiting for; Naruto the Slug Prince versus Neji!

Favourite Pairings: Last Chapter I asked you guys about fave pairings but I think I fluffed the question so I'll try again, this time with examples.

I'm Full-Throttle-Hornet and my favourite Naruto Pairings are:

Het – Naruto x Anko. I LOVE Anko. She's like a snake-y version of Naruto. I imagine she probably had it pretty rough too when she came back to Konoha and Orochimaru was a known traitor.

Yuri – Mei Terumi x Tsunade Senju. Two Lady Kage's who are just totally kickass.

Yaoi – Naruto x Shikamaru / Naruto x Neji. Shika is just fun and Neji sees Naru as his saviour. I CAN'T DECIDE!

3Way – ShikaNaruNeji. I'm writing it, do you have to ask?

Chapter Five: Sensei! Conversations and Guidance!

Naruto gasped. "T-ten-chan! It's s-so tight! I thought you s-said you'd done this before, ya know?"

The Konoha Kunoichi grunted with effort. She'd only done this once before and had forgotten how hard it had been. "Just hold it together Naruto-kun, I'm almost done." She took a deep breath and moved closer. With a great sigh of relief she said, "done."

Naruto looked in the mirror and the outfit that Tenten had given him. It was a smart shirt, trousers and bowtie. "I'm not sure about this Ten-chan, it's not very functional ya know? I can barely breathe here!" Tenten looked hurt.

"But Naruto-kun, you need a new outfit after what happened to your other outfit. It needed an update anyway. Plus, bowties are cool. It makes you look like a proper Doctor."

Naruto shook his head, his eyes squinting and a frown on his face. "Nah, not for a ninja what was wrong with my old outfit?"

Tenten picked up the remains. Who knew that practising fire diversion would lead to burning down half of the dojo. Naruto's Wind Nintaijutsu training had really paid off. His natural affinity and his own adaptability had led to some interesting new techniques developed on the fly. And his Tessenjutsu when combined with his Nintaijutsu had gotten to the point where Katanakaji had had to go all out. Tenten had never known that her Father used Tortoise Summons. "It's orange Naruto. Bright, eye-burning orange. Not the stealthiest colour choice."

Naruto sniffed. "I wear orange because it's my favourite colour. And I want people to see me Ten-chan." At this Naruto began to look serious again. Tenten moved over to him and undid his bowtie.

"Naruto, why does everyone seem to hate you?" Naruto looked surprised. "The adults mutter about you and all the other people our age said they do it because their parents did it. I don't understand it. And another thing, you said you could fight Neji-kun even without my father's training but I can't see how."

Naruto chuckled, causing Tenten to look at him curiously. "Set up the dummies downstairs and I'll show you what I was talking about. I just need to change into something more comfortable." Tenten looked to his backpack and she felt a shiver run down her spine.

"Not you too Naruto, I know Gai-sensei says that it helps with training but-" she didn't get to finish as he whipped out the green spandex jumpsuit and started grinning like a madman.

"How about a bet Ten-chan? If I can impress you while wearing this, you have to wear yours for training and eating ramen with me. If I don't, then I'll tell you why everyone hates me." He walked over to the Kunoichi and held a hand out. "Deal?"

Tenten decided this was a sure bet. Having worked with Gai-sensei and Lee-kun for so long, there was no way she could be impressed with that outfit. She took Naruto's hand. "Deal."

On the other side of Konoha, Konoha's Sublime Green Beast of Prey felt a warm tingle. "Hmmm, someone is donning a wondrous green jumpsuit." The Taijutsu master was leaving his favourite non-training establishment, the Curry Cinema. It was a new addition to Konoha; a Boolywood Cinema that doubled as a curryhouse. It combined his favourite meal with movies of sweeping emotion. Today's film was a special run of 3 Idiots. "Hmmm, Phunsukh Wangdu is right; one should follow excellence, not success, as success will come if excellence is followed. I shall no longer aim to meet my goals; I shall surpass them! If I say I will do a thousand laps of Konoha, I will aim to surpass it rather than stop when I reach it. Haha!" He felt the Fires of Youth burning hotter than ever within his belly. As he moved to begin he ran straight into a passerby. "Oh, I am so sorry sir. I wasn't looking where I was go…" He trailed off as the face of the man he hit came into view. His tan skin, his eyes squinting, almost closed. His brown hair still had its widow's peak but while it was once shaved close, was now a long mullet. His sage green bomber jacket hung on his shoulders while he wore a sleeveless green jumpsuit. "S-sensei? Katanakaji-sensei is it truly you?"

"It's been a while, Boy-kun. Has Ningame grown much since we last met?" Katanakaji nodded to the sweating Jonin. He pulled out a cigarette and lit it. After taking a long puff and realising his former student wasn't going to be in a state to talk for a time he wrapped an arm around Gai and pulled him along with him. "How about a bit of sight-seeing? It's been a while since I have looked over Konoha from the Hokage Mountain."

"Asuma-sensei? Can I talk to you about something?" The Team Ten Leader turned to Shikamaru and nodded. Questions of his own began to form in his own mind as he led his pupil to a bench. In the past few days his normally lazy student had become obsessed with training. They had made great progress with Kage-Kubishibari No Jutsu, and his stamina training was going at a good pace.

"What is troubling you Shikamaru-kun? I have noticed a change in you; it's not unwelcome, I'm rather glad you've started taking training seriously." Shikamaru shifted uncomfortably, Asuma had never seen his student look so uncomfortable.

"I have started… noticing someone. It's not something I expected…. I find it bothersome." Asuma leaned forward, gesturing for him to continue. "You know about my plan. A boring life followed by a marriage of convenience, a few kids and an early retirement. This… attraction would upset that plan. And they put forward an interesting point; higher ranks can be more selective. If I'm an elite Jonin then chances are they would only use me for a few important missions. Less work, which works for me. What should I do?"

Asuma-sensei crossed his arms. His student had used 'person' and 'they'. Gender neutral terms meant it was a boy. A change in attitude, going from his research on the other teams means Uzumaki. He had seen the boy working at the Medical Centre and had heard about his rapid growth. It all added up. Certainly, there weren't any gay couples at the time but it was well known that the Nidaime Hokage had preferred the company of men but never married. It had been a long time ago so perhaps it wasn't as well-known as he thought. Perhaps Shikamaru was thinking about needing an heir for the Nara Clan? Whatever the case, he really was too young to be dealing with such matters. Nara Shikamaru may be a Genius Genin but he was still only thirteen. "Shikamaru, you are thirteen. Sexuality is a difficult thing to discuss at any time in life and it can take years for some people to know what they're looking for. You shouldn't try to stick to a label to yourself until you have some more experience. My advice is to wait. Spend some more time with Naruto and if something happens it happens." Shikamaru blinked. Asuma smiled at the fact he could catch his student. He then began to lament that they weren't playing Shogi, he would definitely have won with his student so distracted.

In the basement Dojo of Tenten's home, the brunette had set up the room as Naruto had asked; Level Ten Fuinjutsu exercise. Her father had helped her create an assault course that went through numerous levels. She had herself reached Level Four and had not yet mastered it. Level Ten was Jounin Level, according to her father. Naruto stood waiting. Tenten moved back from the course. "Are you sure about this Naruto?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, I'm ready. Let's go!"

At the Hokage's office, Hiruzen was staring out the window when a Chunin entered. "Lord Hokage! Shimura Danzo has left Konoha! He left a letter saying he was going on a Sabbatical and he also left a message to put his financial resources on Uzumaki Naruto to win." The Hokage nodded and accepted the letters before sending the Chunin away.

So, Orochimaru was going to be observing the Chunin Exams. The Hokage mused to himself what Danzo had told him. In exchange for the power to combat and hold the Nine-tailed fox within himself, the Warhawk of Konoha had made a deal with Hiruzen old pupil. The price was to not interfere in an attack on the village. From Danzo and Kakashi's reports, Hiruzen concluded that the Snake Sannin was looking for research materials and had something special planned for the young Uchiha. "I will have to prepare then, for my final battle with one who was once my most treasured pupil."

Tenten didn't know what to say, the walls of the Dojo were a mess. She had never seen such destruction. Naruto turned to her and grinned. "I can only hold it for a short time ya know? I think thirty seconds to a minute depending on what Fuinjutsu I'm dealing with, but you see what I mean?" She looked at the Orange Genin and noticed something strange.

"Is it meant to affect your hair too?" The boy looked confused so she continued. "Your hair is longer than it was when you started, and during your hair looked almost…" She shook her head, had to be her imagination. "Something else, the way you moved was like…" Naruto put his hands up.

"I know, I was surprised when I learned about I; a shared heritage. I don't think they remember but I think it might be fun to remind them." Naruto moved to collect up all the weapons and repairing the damage and Tenten joined him. "I have the Nine-tailed fox sealed in me. That's why everyone hates me."

Tenten dropped the bundle of kunai she was holding. "What?" Naruto fiddled with the jumpsuit till he managed to peel the torso part down. She watched as his bare stomach slowly became decorated with a large seal on it.

"The Yondaime Hokage didn't kill the fox, he instead sealed him in a new-born baby. The Sandaime Hokage made it against the law or the adults to tell anyone, even me, about it. But people were seeing me as the fox that killed all their friends and comrades instead of the boy that the fox was imprisoned in." Naruto felt himself getting pulled into a hug. "Wha-?"

"Thank you for telling me. I know you didn't have to and I understand why you'd be hesitant." They stayed that way for a while until Tenten pushed herself up. "I've got another idea for a costume. We'll need to stop at a few shops so we best get going now." With that she took Naruto's hand and dragged him away with her, forgetting that he was wearing a jumpsuit and that he'd rolled it half down.

On the Hokage mountain, Maito Gai finally regained his capacity for conversation. "You've been training Naruto-kun haven't you?"

Katanakaji folded his arms. "And what if I have?" He had chosen to wear the outfit he had often worn during his days as a ninja for this purpose. Gai felt himself feeling nervous in the prescence of his old sensei who had, if anything, had become even more muscular in his long retirement. "He wasn't receiving training anywhere else."

Gai choked at this. "What? But his Team Leader is my Eternal Rival, Copy Ninja Kakashi. Surely he would be training his pupil in the run up to his match against Neji-kun." Katanakaji shook his head and Gai dropped to sit on a rock. "I see. I had always thought Hatake was so very cool and hip the way he acted but now I see he just didn't really care. I'm afraid I have failed you Sensei. I have not chosen my rival well. I thought that a student of your Eternal Rival would be best suited but it would appear that was a mistake." Katanakaji punched his former student hard.

"Fool! You have chosen a Nemesis, not a Rival. He is your opposite and so you must overcome him. It is true that my Rival was more of a Friendly Eternal Rival but that doesn't mean you have to do it the same as me. From what I hear, you have successfully created plans of attack specifically for fighting Sharingan. That is quite an achievement Boy-kun. Naruto came to my house and treated my daughters injuries so I offered to compensate him. Further, Yondaime listed my retirement as 'extended sick leave owing to bereavement and trauma'. I am technically still listed as a Konoha Jonin and ANBU General. Therefore I have broken no laws."

"I am relieved by your words Sensei. I should tell you, Orochimaru is in the village and we know he plans to invade soon, with help from Sunagakure. You may want to prepare for a fight." Katanakaji smiled.

"I think I'll leave the fighting to Naruto. He is well on his way to surpassing his Father.


	6. Chapter 6

Naruto is a manga series by Masashi Kishimoto published by Shueisha in Japan's Shonen Jump and VIZ Media in the American Shonen Jump. The anime series is produced by Studio Pierrot and Aniplex for TV Tokyo and Animax with VIZ Media having gone through multiple networks over the years. I don't own the series, I make no money out of doing this. Please support the official release.

Hey guys! It's time for another hot plate of Slug! I was honestly going to start the fighting this chapter but then Hinata kept talking and I wanted to throw some more character prepping before they started throwing all the punches.

Chapter Six: Proud Failure! The Chunin Exams are about to start!

In the forests of Konoha, Neji had completed his final burst of training before the Chunin Exams. All around him were broken and shattered blades but for a perfect circle. Tenten gasped for breath, her body and her Chakra resources exhausted. "It's perfect Neji." Neji didn't nod or acknowledge the comment.

"That's enough of a warm-up, let's go." He didn't wait for her to agree or catch, he merely moved with a single minded resolve that conflicted with his style. The Hyuga's Juken used subtle, circular movements while Neji was direct and unyielding. The Hyuga prodigy began to consider his matches. Uzumaki would be an easy win; he had no talent or skill to speak of. After that he would be facing either the Last Uchiha or the red-haired ninja from Suna. Now that he had mastered Hakkesho Kaiten he knew it was superior to the Suna boy's sand and he also knew Uchiha couldn't keep up with his speed. That left…

"Hey Neji," gasped Tenten once she caught up. Neji turned his head slightly to listen to his teammate. "Neji, do you remember that present your Uncle left when you joined Team Gai?" Neji returned to staring forward, yes he remembered. He threw it in the trash. "Well, I kept it, and I gave it to someone. I hope you don't mind." Neji didn't over a reply, he merely added distance between them. The Kunoichi Genin sighed and hoped she had made the right decision.

Mitate sat in his office staring at the report his 'apprentice'/assistant/bane of his existence had left. Chakra stimulants harvested from plant life in the ruins of Uzushiogakure could be used for a number of maladies they had had trouble with recently and with help from the Yamanaka Clan, they should be able to cultivate it in their own village. He sighed; this treatment wouldn't completely heal Rock Lee, only improve the quality of life outside of being a ninja. The Iryo-nin still couldn't believe how much work the Genin had done in such a short time without even being made an official candidate for the Medical Program. He pulled out a blank scroll and began to write out his recommendation for a mission to the ruined city of Naruto's clan to retrieve the plant, wanting to get it filed before he went to see how his protégé did in his fight with his patient's teammate.

Sarutobi Hiruzen was visiting the memorial alone, offering prayers to the fallen and for those who would soon follow. A number of his best Jonin and ANBU were on missions far away from the village and by Danzo's estimates the combined Otogakure and Sunagakure forces outnumbered them five to one. The only one of his students he was in contact with had disappeared with his "student". He shook his head dismissively. He had seen Ms Haruno the day after he had heard what had happened from Danzo. The pinkette was wearing an outfit almost exactly the same as the one Tsunade had worn at that age. He had asked around, Sakura had researched Jiraiya at the library along with Tsunade and then gone shopping. Clothes and perfume that had been Tsunade's preference. Everyone who knew Jiraiya knew his weakness for Tsunade and the image of one from before their Team fell apart probably tugged at his guilt over losing Orochimaru than his, as he'd refer to it, Super Pervert side.

Shikamaru dodged another punch as he tried to focus, moulding his Chakra for the Jutsu. Pushing himself to the limit at this late in the training period, he wasn't hoping for miracles, he only hoped he could at least master **this** Jutsu before he had to get to the stadium. Sarutobi grinned as he pulled out his trench blades and made a wide swipe at his student's head. The shadow-wielder barely ducked in time and kicked out, knocking a blade out of his Sensei's left hand. Finally he felt it, he saw the shape and he saw his target and he sent it out.

The Sand Siblings Temari and Kankuro were not at ease. In fact, they were downright terrified. For the past week, after he came back from disappearing in the middle of the day, their little brother Gaara had radiated bloodlust. Even Baki's prescence, representing the Kazekage's authority, wasn't enough to quell the rage radiating from the Host of Shukaku. All they heard him say was "Uzumaki… Naruto…" They couldn't figure out why he would say that name though. They'd met the Uzumaki boy and seen him in battle, he was useless. After checking the time, Kankuro did some last minute tweaking on his puppets while Temari polished her fan.

As the Sandaime Hokage finished his thoughts he turned to see a man he'd not seen in over ten years. The customised bomber jacket worn over his shoulders, the sleeveless green jumpsuit and the long mullet. The student of his student. He smiled. "Katanakaji, it has been a long time." His smile dropped when the often cheerful, often ridiculously so, man did not change his stern look. "Katanakaji?"

The master weapons maker of Konohagakure pulled a scroll out of his jacket. "I have long abided by the wishes of the Council of Elders, and I have had a great deal of work to do while raising my daughter. My wife and I are set on this, you will rescind Jiraiya's claim on Naruto as Godfather and bestow them on me." He handed the scroll over.

Shikamaru greedily ate as he tried to restore his Chakra after the intense training. One of Choji's pills and an early trip to a shop for numerous bags of crisps had nearly done it but he was now ravenous from the evaporation of body fat. Asuma-sensei was still out for the count, the Jutsu had worked. "You're acting really weird Shikamaru," crunched Choji between mouthfuls of crisps, "I thought training was a bother, but now you're training a lot."

Shikamaru chuckled. "I had a thought Choji; if I get to a high enough level then I get to do as much or as little as I want. If I train and work hard now it means I get to work less later." Choji nodded and continued eating, not convinced. Shikamaru sighed and concentrated on keeping the image of performing the Jutsu in his head.

This is where we first became a team, thought Naruto as he enjoyed a cup of Instant Ramen on the training ground where Kakashi had given them the Bell Test. The lesson of self-sacrifice and teamwork had been a good one, but given he'd been abandoned by his entire team he had to wonder if they had been learning the same lesson. "N-naruto-kun?"

Naruto turned to see Hinata, hiding slightly behind one of the wooden-posts. "Hinata-chan! Are you alright now?" The Hyuga girl blushed nervously but moved away from the post to stand nearer to the blond Genin.

"N-naruto, what are you doing here? I-isn't t-today the finals?" She shifted from crossed arms to holding her arms behind her back as she waited for an answer. Naruto saw this and remembered the words she had used in her fight with Neji.

Oh, so that's how it is. "I'm just taking some time to think how far I've come since I became a Genin." He set the finished cup down and turned back to focus on Hinata. "Neji's your cousin right?" She nodded. "He's strong right?" Another nod. "I think something happened when he was younger, something to do with his dad dying, that's made him so angry. I'm going to find out." He nodded to Hinata and turned to leave.

"Naruto wait!" The blond stopped and turned. "W-when I f-fought him and y-you cheered for m-me I felt like I had become stronger. Even though I lost I… I started to like myself more. Most people don't think I've changed but I… I know now that I can change. I was able to tell people my Nindo, that I learned from you. Thankyou." Naruto blushed. Though he would never admit it, he had enjoyed being the kind of person who helped people find their way in life. Like when he had helped Konohamaru, and when he had helped Inari. Now Hinata.

"Hinata, after the Exams I'm going to play ninja with Konohamaru and his friends then help them with their homework. Would you like to join me? You're better at the written stuff than me ya know?" Hinata turned a deep shade of red so Naruto walked over to he and tapped her shoulder. "I think you'd really enjoy it."

Hinata nodded. As Naruto began to head off again she called out to him again, "Naruto! My cousin may be strong and may have never lost but you have. Because you've failed in the past you have the strength to get back up. I-I think that's what true strength is. Neji is strong but you are very strong. It's what I always liked about you N-naruto."

Naruto smiled. "Thanks Hinata, I was feeling depressed over stuff but now, after all you've said, I feel GREAT ya know?" Hinata felt pride swell in her. Not only had she managed to keep a conversation going with Naruto, shad made him feel better! "Ya know Hinata, about you… I," she moved closer to listen to him, "I always thought you were a plain looing, dark weirdo." Hinata felt herself crumple. "And that's the kind of person I like best. I'm gonna go kick Neji's ass so be sure to watch me." He left for the stadium and didn't notice that Hinata had frozen.

Naruto looked around the stadium, looking for any sign of Sasuke. He couldn't believe Sasuke would be late for this, could he have picked up on Kakashi's tardiness. "Hey kid, eyes up front. Need to face your future customers." The new proctor chewing a senbon then turned to the people in the stadium. "Ladies and gentlemen! Let's give a round of applause for our rising new stars!"

Kiba Inuzuka had resorted to prodding Hinata with a stick. "HINATA! WHAT THE HELL! WE'RE GOING TO MISS SHINO'S FIGHT!"


	7. Chapter 7

Naruto is a manga series by Masashi Kishimoto published by Shueisha in Japan's Shonen Jump and VIZ Media in the American Shonen Jump. The anime series is produced by Studio Pierrot and Aniplex for TV Tokyo and Animax with VIZ Media having gone through multiple networks over the years. I don't own the series, I make no money out of doing this. Please support the official release.

Hey guys, here's another bit of build-up before the fight. Some more history added and we finally see Naruto's new costume!

I enjoyed reading your fave pairings so I thought I'd ask for a new set of faves. Your favourite Naruto fights. Three categories this time:

Your Favourite Fight in the manga and anime.

Your Favourite Filler/Movie Fight.

And a Fight you'd like to see in Slug, could be the new Naruto against another character or perhaps you'd like to see Katanakaji get into a scuffle. Let me know!

I'll tell you mine in Chapter 8.

Chapter Seven: The Main Event Commences!

As the people of Konoha began entering the stadium for the final part of the Chunin Exam the Sandaime Hokage again peered at the scroll that Katanakaji had given him at the memorial monument. It was the same scroll he had been handed fourteen years ago when he had returned to office. Adoption. Katanakaji had entered the Council Room with his wife, the civilian Hana, and demanded that the son of Minato and Kushina be placed in his care. While the Hyuga and the Nara Clan leaders backed the proposal, both had served with the Everlasting Titan of the Hidden Leaf and knew he would be a good and watchful guardian, others had not been so sure. Shimura Danzo had questioned letting the boy grow up among the civilians and the head of the civilian population, Haruno Ken, had strongly opposed having 'the demon' living near him and his daughter. In the end they had turned down Katanakaji, he was no longer a ninja and could not be entrusted with guardianship of a child that like Naruto. Now though; Katanakaji had revealed he had never officially retired, merely on extended sick leave. Hiruzen took a long puff of his pipe. Naruto may well reach the position of Chunin on this day and would be officially recognised as a man of Konoha. However, he was also barely into his teens and had been without a family all his life. "Perhaps giving Naruto this would be the right thing to do…"

Shikamaru watched the other Genin arrive, he had managed to be early despite bottoming out his Chakra reserves and then having to restore them earlier that day. He could see no sign of the Dosu guy who he had to fight. Who had beaten Choji. He saw his other opponent though, the Suna Kunoichi Temari. That giant fan was gleaming from excellent care and showed no scratch from when it was used to crush Tenten. He saw her look at him and recognised the thoughtful look she gave him. She was sizing him up, analysing. Could she be like me? He thought to himself. Could she be a tactical thinker who plans ahead of a fight before it even starts. There had been a reason for his earliness; he had mapped out the battlefield, looked for weaknesses in the ground and checked the size of the shadows. He just hoped his match was at the right time of day.

Hyuga Neji, Juken Genius and member of the Branch House of the Hyuga Clan stood proud in the centre of the stadium waiting for the finals to get underway. It looked like everyone had been training hard over the month, even the lazy Nara Shikamaru. He couldn't couldn't make up his mind with the future Nara Clan Leader. He often seemed to sleep through things and yet when awake it was clear he had a keen intellect. He decided that he ought to keep an eye on him, to be sure. He continued his observations until he realised his opponent wasn't there. He turned to the entranceway and saw him. And immediately remembered what Tenten had said earlier about the present from Uncle Hiashi that he had thrown in the trash.

Up in the seating area, Hyuga Hiashi gave a gasp at the sight if Naruto. Despite the obvious colour change he recognised the traditional Hyuga garb he had intended for Neji to wear.

Kiba Inuzuka had resorted to prodding Hinata with a stick. "HINATA! WHAT THE HELL! WE'RE GOING TO MISS SHINO'S FIGHT!" Hinata finally unfroze and Kiba relaxed. "What happened Hinata-chan? Who was that blonde Hyuga you were talking to?"

Shikamaru stared agape at his transformed friend. Black hakama trousers with a light orange kimono orange. He wore a darker orange montsuki haori over it, the spiral that adorned so many ninja garbs in Konoha was emblazoned where the mon, family crests, were supposed to be. His obi sash was black with what appeared to be spiralling orange fox-tails decorating it. Naruto's Hitai-ate was tied onto the obi, leaving his forehead bare and showing the diamond that he had recently gained. He was no longer wearing the typical ninja sandals; he now had split-toed, white tabi socks and seta appeared to be two sticks tucked into the obi but Shikamaru couldn't guess what they were. Something he recognised though was the Iryo-ni coat, which the blonde Genin was wearing on his shoulders. All in all, the "dead-last-Genin" looked…. More.

Naruto looked around the stadium, looking for any sign of Sasuke. He couldn't believe Sasuke would be late for this, could he have picked up on Kakashi's tardiness. "Hey kid, eyes up front. Need to face your future customers." The new proctor chewing a senbon then turned to the people in the stadium. "Ladies and gentlemen! Let's give a round of applause for our rising new stars!"

Shiranui Genma, proctor for the final part of the exams, wasn't sure what to make of the blond Genin. He looked like a younger version of the Yondaime Hokage, wearing his confidence like his coat. He had seen the trainee Iryo-nin at work when he'd visited a friend at the medical centre. The kid had been everywhere at once, totally focused on task. It was unreal that a Genin, who hadn't even finished his Chunin Exams, was fast becoming an Iryo-nin Genius.

The Hokage rose up and moved to the balcony while the Kazekage remained seated. "Thanks everyone! For coming to the Konoha Chunin Selection Exam!" There was a great applause. "We will now start the main matches!"

Shikamaru gave a sigh of relief. It seemed Dosu had quit the Exam, so he no longer had an extra match to fight. Which meant he just had….

Baki, the leader of the Sand Siblings on their Invasion of Konoha Mission, glared at Gaara. There was no sign of Uchiha Sasuke, and there was Gaara's disappearance not long before they were due to arrive that day. 'Could he have really have done this? After I repeatedly told him not to attract attention.'

"Okay guys, it's a different setting but the rules are the same as before. You fight until one of you dies or acknowledges defeat. I'll step in if I think the fight's over. You got that?" The assembled Genin all gave the slightest of nods. This was serious. No joking or questions now. "Alright, first match is Hyuga Neji v.s. Uzumaki Naruto. You two stay while the rest go to the waiting area."

Hinata and Kiba were barely able to find a seat, but were able to see as Neji and Naruto stepped forward to face each other. Above them, Ino and Choji were sat staring intently at the arena floor. "Against someone like Neji, Naruto has no chance." Whispered the blond florist while the pleasingly plump Genin opened another bag of crisps. "I don't know Ino-chan. Shikamaru has been different ever since he went for ramen with Naruto. Maybe Naruto is different too. I haven't seen him for a while and he looks really serious down there."

A Chunin with brown hair combed to cover his right eye and another with spiky black hair started going over the odds. "That blond Genin has a lot of luck but that Hyuga kid.."

The other nodded, "Indeed. That Hyuga kid is too tough for just luck to carry you through. My money's on Hyuga." Hyuga Hinata, sat beside them, listened to the conversation and fumed.

Rising up, Hinata turned to them. "You're wrong. Naruto is really strong. Stronger than you realise." She was shocked, as was Kiba. In the past, Hinata had never stood up for herself like that. Kiba then heard whining coming from his shoulder.

"What is it Akamaru?" He turned and saw a hooded ANBU standing not far from where they were seated. 'An ANBU? What's going on?'

As they stood staring at each other, waiting for the call to begin, Hyuga Neji spoke in a sneering tone; "You look like you have something to say?" The blond raised his hand into a fist and Neji was reminded of the last time they had looked upon each other.

"I told you before… You're definitely going down." Neji looked at his opponent and activated the Byakugan. Naruto watched him as he adopted a fighting stance. 'The eyes of a person who totally believes in himself… there's no doubt in him...'

Neji watched as Naruto adopted a similar stance, and stared into the blonde's eyes. 'The eyes of a person who totally believes in himself… there's no doubt in him...'

Hyuga Hiashi turned to his daughter. "You said you had a strange Doctor when you went to the Medical Centre yesterday…." The young Heir to the Hyuga Main Family nodded.

"That's him. He kept talking about some plant he was having brought here for a medicinal treatment he'd come up with. He was able to reset my leg and used Shosen Jutsu. Not even a scar. He even did a cosmetic once over of my older injuries and…." Hiashi's face tensed. "He wanted to know about our Clan, he said it was for a history project. Sorry, father."

Hiashi tensed for a moment but decided it was unlikely that the blond boy could know anything about…. "It's of no matter Hanabi. I want you to watch your cousin carefully, there isn't another Hyuga like Neji."

Hanabi nodded. "Yes father."

"Now the first fight. Begin!"


	8. Chapter 8

Naruto is a manga series by Masashi Kishimoto published by Shueisha in Japan's Shonen Jump and VIZ Media in the American Shonen Jump. The anime series is produced by Studio Pierrot and Aniplex for TV Tokyo and Animax with VIZ Media having gone through multiple networks over the years. I don't own the series, I make no money out of doing this. Please support the official release.

Hey guys. FINALLY! It's Neji and Naruto in their big fight! Hopefully you'll like how Naruto the Slug Prince handles himself in a fight and I can assure you it only gets better.

Last time I asked you all about your favourite Naruto fights. From the manga, from the filler/movie and finally what fights you'd like to see in Slug. Thanks those that replied and here're mine:

Manga/Anime: The Naruto/Lee/Gaara v.s. Kimimaro. Sure it's Part one but that was an AMAZING fight. There were different styles, there was emotion and backstory. My other fave would have to be Mifune v.s. Hanzo. I literally cannot wait to see the anime do it. I've seen the latest chapters as well and it may soon be the case that these faves are replaced with the Kage's versus Madara.

Filler: Gai versus Lee with the training dummies. Oh. My. God. It was just… so emotional.

Last is a bit of a cheat since it's my fanfic but what I will say is Katanakaji is going to have some fights that will make it seem like you're reading DragonBall Z versus War of the Monsters.

Chapter Eight: Fight! Destiny and Guts Clash!

A Chunin with brown hair combed to cover his right eye and another with spiky black hair started going over the odds. "That blond Genin has a lot of luck but that Hyuga kid.."

The other nodded, "Indeed. That Hyuga kid is too tough for just luck to carry you through. My money's on Hyuga." Hyuga Hinata, sat beside them, listened to the conversation and fumed.

Rising up, Hinata turned to them. "You're wrong. Naruto is really strong. Stronger than you realise." She was shocked, but not as shocked when a hand tapped her shoulder.

"Thanks Hina-chan, Boss down there will be glad to know that." The Kage Bunshin turned to the two Chunin, "Hey, you feel like making a bet on this fight then? I win, you have to pay my tab at Ichiraku Ramen." The two Chunin turned to each other and whispered before turning to face the Kage Bunshin.

"What if we win? We don't have any debts and no non-Clan Genin would have anywhere near enough money to give us a decent jackpot." The whiskered Iryo-nin chuckled and the two Chunin moved closer.

"If you win, I will set you up with a medical plan that will cut your fees by sixty per cent while receiving ANBU level treatment." He smirked at the dropped jaws of the two Chunin. ANBU could show up any day any hour and receive no-questions medical treatment. And to receive that kind of access to medical treatment for only forty per cent of what they had to pay for Chunin level cover…

"DEAL!"

Hyuga Hiashi turned to his daughter. "You said you had a strange Doctor when you went to the Medical Centre yesterday…." The young Heir to the Hyuga Main Family nodded.

"That's him. He kept talking about some plant he was having brought here for a medicinal treatment he'd come up with. He was able to reset my leg and used Shosen Jutsu. Not even a scar. He even did a cosmetic once over of my older injuries and…." Hiashi's face tensed. "He wanted to know about our Clan, he said it was for a history project. Sorry, father."

Hiashi tensed for a moment but decided it was unlikely that the blond boy could know anything about…. "It's of no matter Hanabi. I want you to watch your cousin carefully, there isn't another Hyuga like Neji."

Hanabi nodded. "Yes father."

"Now the first fight. Begin!" Neji flinched from the absence of movement. He had expected the blond Genin to charge at him the second the proctor made the call. But instead, Naruto had begun to slowly move around , circling him. No. He was moving closer. Neji decided to move in a similar fashion; though his steps where deliberate and spaced out, Naruto's steps were more like a shuffle.

The young Heir to the Hyuga Main Branch turned to her father. "Father, is this all that Neji-nee is going to do?" She couldn't fathom what was going on. The two Genin had merely been circling one another for the past half hour.

Hiashi tensed. "It is a sound strategy. They are focusing all their energy on each other, looking for an opening. Normally this would be a simple matter of waiting till one dropped their guard. However, if Neji-kun doesn't do something soon about that Uzumaki it won't matter if his stamina is greater.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Suddenly, four exact clones of Naruto appeared and surged towards Neji. The Hyuga prodigy paused at this. The Kage Bunshin was a Jonin level Kinjutsu from the Forbidden Scroll that ….. had been stolen six months ago. The Academy instructor Mizuki had been arrested for it but it was said that he had manipulated a student to steal it for him.

"So, you are the moron who stole a scroll?" Behind the four clones the original Naruto started. "Yes, I heard about it. So you tried become stronger like that huh? It won't do any good though, your fate is already set in stone."

Tenten blinked in surprise. Was this Naruto's idea of a trump card? The Kage Bunshin would make it difficult for Neji to find the original but Neji was a Juken prodigy, with Taijutsu skills beyond anything Naruto could learn in a month. She turned to her father. "What is Naruto thinking?"

Katanakaji tensed; the Hyuga boy didn't see what was going on and Naruto seemed in no hurry. Clearly _that move _wasn't going to be his first plan, simply a reserve. He remembered the promises his Slug Prince had made to Tenten. "He is preparing to show us all his new path, his new Nindo." Tenten looked confused but returned to watch the match.

The clones charged at once, weaving from different directions. The Hyuga didn't even move, the veins round his eyes just seemed to flex more. He leapt at the last moment and delivered a brutal kick to the face of one clone while landing in a handstand on another. He spun and with an almighty crack the clone exploded just as the head appeared to leave the body, causing Naruto to wince and hold his neck as the memory invaded his mind. The last two clones were dispatched with a spin kick. "Pathetic. To think you dream of being the Hokage. It's impossible for you to beat me with these All-Seeing Eyes. Talent is decided when we are born, our destiny is decided before we are even born. You have nothing to distinguish yourself from the worthless losers you stand up for except a goofy grin. Your fate is to lose to me. Here.

'Damn Hyuga and double damn those All-Seeing Eyes' thought Naruto as the phantom pain in his neck burned. He knew his back-up could finish this fight here and now but he needed to know more, he needed to know why Neji felt such pain that he needed to hurt Hina-chan the way he did. "Why the hell do you get to decide things huh? You think those Eyes tell you everything ya know?" Growled the Genin.

Hyuga Neji sneered. "So you think any Shinobi can become the Hokage just by working hard? Kage is a title few Shinobi are awarded. Think of our villages; a man who built a forest on a whim, another who could locate any enemy just by touching the ground, a Genius who commands the Monkey King and a man who could be everywhere at once, who defeated the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox." At this Naruto felt his tenant growl with contempt. "Look at the reality around you. Only one Destiny is shared by all, that even a Loser like you can achieve. Death."

'He still has that grudge against the Main Family? Why hasn't that boy activated his Jutsu? What does he know about this situation?' Hiashi couldn't understand what the Uzumaki boy was up to but he was sure it couldn't be good.

Another swarm of Kage Bunshin rushed at the Hyuga prodigy, twenty of them this time. Neji saw the one at the far back. 'The same strategy? What a fool.' He rushed his way past the clones and pulled a kunai from one of them before leaping into the air to land right behind Naruto. "It's over." The clones disappeared.

"Father, why is Naruto trying to use Taijutsu? You were teaching him Nintaijutsu on account of the lack of time." Katanakaji shook his head at his daughter's question.

"Initially, yes. However, I then discovered that Naruto had mastered the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu and could divide his training up among many. I taught him a martial art that I thought would help him understand Juken tactics better. In fact he read up on it and decided to adapt his Nindo to include it's teachings."

Tenten turned to her father, "What Martial Art?"

"Judo."

Another swarm of Kage Bunshin rushed at the Hyuga prodigy, twenty of them this time. Neji saw the one at the far back. 'The same strategy? What a fool.' He rushed his way past the clones and pulled a kunai from one of them before leaping into the air to land right behind Naruto. "It's over." The clones disappeared. Neji drove the kunai forward but fell forward when the kunai was suddenly smoke. Two hands grabbed his arm.

"Seoi nage." Neji was suddenly in the air and then slamming into the ground. A trap. Neji rolled away from his opponent and tried to regroup but the orange genin was on him straight away. Neji attempted a kick but it was grabbed and Neji was swung by his own momentum into the air and then into the ground, face first. Held close together by the blond Genin, Neji struggle to break free. "As long as we're this close you're 'All Seeing Eye' is pointless and you don't have the room to try choking my Chakra points. I can just keep throwing you into the ground until…" He didn't get to finish as Neji fixed his footing and then brought his stare to Naruto, radiating with Sakki.

"Hakkesho. Kaiten!"


	9. Chapter 9

Naruto is a manga series by Masashi Kishimoto published by Shueisha in Japan's Shonen Jump and VIZ Media in the American Shonen Jump. The anime series is produced by Studio Pierrot and Aniplex for TV Tokyo and Animax with VIZ Media having gone through multiple networks over the years. I don't own the series, I make no money out of doing this. Please support the official release.

Hey guys! Another day, another Slug. The fight continues and Naruto pulls out a few more tricks in his titanic battle with the Hyuga Prodigy.

Chapter nine: Juken! The Flawless Gentle Fist!

Another swarm of Kage Bunshin rushed at the Hyuga prodigy, twenty of them this time. Neji saw the one at the far back. 'The same strategy? What a fool.' He rushed his way past the clones and pulled a kunai from one of them before leaping into the air to land right behind Naruto. "It's over." The clones disappeared.

"Father, why is Naruto trying to use Taijutsu? You were teaching him Nintaijutsu on account of the lack of time." Katanakaji shook his head at his daughter's question.

"Initially, yes. However, I then discovered that Naruto had mastered the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu and could divide his training up among many. I taught him a martial art that I thought would help him understand Juken tactics better. In fact he read up on it and decided to adapt his Nindo to include it's teachings."

Tenten turned to her father, "What Martial Art?"

"Judo."

Another swarm of Kage Bunshin rushed at the Hyuga prodigy, twenty of them this time. Neji saw the one at the far back. 'The same strategy? What a fool.' He rushed his way past the clones and pulled a kunai from one of them before leaping into the air to land right behind Naruto. "It's over." The clones disappeared. Neji drove the kunai forward but fell forward when the kunai was suddenly smoke. Two hands grabbed his arm.

"Seoi nage." Neji was suddenly in the air and then slamming into the ground. A trap. Neji rolled away from his opponent and tried to regroup but the orange genin was on him straight away. Neji attempted a kick but it was grabbed and Neji was swung by his own momentum into the air and then into the ground, face first. Held close together by the blond Genin, Neji struggle to break free. "As long as we're this close you're 'All Seeing Eye' is pointless and you don't have the room to try choking my Chakra points. I can just keep throwing you into the ground until…" He didn't get to finish as Neji fixed his footing and then brought his stare to Naruto, radiating with Sakki.

"Hakkesho. Kaiten!" Naruto couldn't hold his grip, it was as though Neji's skin was on fire. Neji span round and the 'fire' began to surround him. Naruto pushed away, throwing stars appearing in his hands and flinging them to cover his retreat. The stars didn't pierce the armour and fell to the ground in a mass of shattered metal. Neji sneered at the fourteen year old Genin. "Did you think you had won with a couple of Judo moves?"

Hiashi gave a start, just as Hinata was shocked into a hacking cough and Hanabi leaned forward to watch the fight. They all shared the same thought: 'Hakkesho Kaiten… the Heavenly Spin…"

While the Hyuga Clan members were shocked, Neji's Kunoichi teammate was all too familiar with his mastery of the Clan Technique. They had trained together for a long time to perfect it. With the Byakugan's almost three hundred and sixty degrees of vision and their natural ability to direct Chakra out of every part of their body allowed Neji to use the Ultimate Protective and Defensive Jutsu.

'So there's another who has an Absolute Defense to rival my own?' mused the red-haired Suna-nin.

"Father, he can use your technique." Hanabi stated as they watched Naruto try to breach Neji's Kaiten only to be flung across the arena.

Hiashi nodded. "Kaiten is the Hyuga Main Family's….. a special technique only passed onto the Heirs to the Hyuga House." 'For Neji to have mastered that technique by himself, without instruction…' Hiashi went deep into thought, observing his brother's son. 'What a Talent. To be this good…'

Naruto ran forward and prepared the hand gestures for Kage Bunshin, Neji began to spin again. A single clone appeared and ran forward. The clone leapt onto the beginning Kaiten and before he was flung away and destroyed, Naruto leapt onto his back to gain height. He pulle out a scroll and raised a hand. "Kai!" A mass of weapons of every shape and size appeared and all came crashing onto Neji. His barely formed Kaiten couldn't handle the onslaught and the Hyuga Prodigy fell away, rolling away from the blades and hammers. The tide of metal came to an end and Neji looked up to find the blond Genin rushing him with a kunai in one hand and a hammer in another. In his confusion he could not fully avoid the attack as the blade pierced his arm and the hammer came own on his forehead. Only his Hitai-ate protected him from losing consciousness, though it did lead to the metal of the Hitai-ate cutting him.

Neji coughed up some blood before he started to sneer again. "Not bad but now you've entered the range of my Hakke Rokujuyon Sho." He adopted a new stance as Naruto prepared for another attack.

Hiashi Hyuga stood up in shock. 'That stance….'

Naruto's attack didn't land as Neji hit first. "Two strikes! Four Strikes! Eight Strikes! Sixteen Strikes! Thirty-two Srikes! Sixty-four Strikes!" The blows were a blur as they landed all over the blond Genin's body. Finally, his boy exploded away from the Hyuga boy.

Hinata and Kiba looked horrified.

Kotetsu an Izumo started adding up the profit they stood to make on their new medical care program.

Hanabi's Byakugan flexed as she focused on the attack's effect.

The Sandaime Hokage gripped the arms of his chair, leaving dents in the wood.

Tenten and Katanakaji looked at each other worriedly, trying to discern why Naruto had put himself in such a position.

Hiashi watched the blond gasping for breath on the arena ground then looked to his nephew. 'What incredible talent.' He thought, 'For the Great Hyuga Blood to flow so strongly in one who can never claim the title of Heir to the Clan…'

Exam Proctor Genma moved closer to the battle. 'That should be about it'.

Neji walked over to Naruto. "I have hit the sixty-four tenketsu of your body. You cannot stand, nor can you channel Chakra." He watched while Naruto, still hunched and holding his torso, rolled onto his knees. "Stay on your knees before a power you cannot defeat or change and accept your worthlessness." 'Just as I have.' "Having your dreams come true through hard work is an illusion. Heh, is it painful? Accepting your role in life?"

Hinata fell from her seat in a coughing fit. When Kiba knelt down to help her up he found blood in her palm. 'N-naruto-kun….' She struggle to see across to where Naruto struggled to rise as her vision blackened.

"D-do you r-really think that I, the last of my Clan would be defeated by the boot-boy of the Clan that served mine?" Naruto looked up as he set one foot down, and then the other. He raised himself to full height to face his opponent who was now backing away in shock.

"W-what?" Neji tripped on a stone and fell onto his rear. 'I-impossible… what is he saying? How is he standing?'

"I am an Uzumaki. The last of the Clan who founded Uzushiogakure. Just as the Uchiha helped the Senju found Konohagakure, so too did the Hyuga help the Uzumaki found Uzushiogakure. Just as the Uchiha were Konoha's Military Police Force, so too were the Hyuga the Uzushiogakure Military Police Force. I am your Lord and if anyone is going to lose this fight it shall be you." Naruto took a resolute stance as he stared down his enemy. 'Good, he will get angry now. Now he will begin to tell me why he hates his own Clan.' Naruto pulled out the Tessen, Swing and Swoop, and took a beginning position. "Yin Seal: KAI!"

"Father, is that all true? What is he?" Hanabi couldn't believe what she was seeing. With that command, a second Chakra network had appeared. It mapped the entire body, just like a normal network. However there appeared to be more 'wires' that collected around his forehead and his stomach. She tried to look closer at the network. It was an eerie orange-red colour. She looked closer but fell back when it seemed to growl at her. "What is he?"

Hiashi felt a cold sweat run down his neck. How had that boy learned about that. That information was only known by the oldest of Clans, the Senju. When Uzushiogakure had fallen, the Hyuga's petitioned the Sandaime Hokage for Asylum. The Yin Seal…. The Seal that had been used by the Shodai Hokage and his wife, the Lady Mito Uzumaki to seal the Nine-tailed fox within her. Somehow… that boy has learned of his maternal lineage and found a way to use the Demon's Chakra. "I…. I don't know Hanabi…. I don't know."

"She was injured during the preliminaries, she said she was fine but…." Kiba struggled to explain to the ANBU working on the unconscious Hyuga girl. He was panicking, feeling responsible for his teammate's condition.

The ANBU gave a reassuring tilt of the head. "The Iryo-nin that treated her merely missed a minor injury that hasn't healed properly. Just a simple bit of emergency surgery. I can do it right now actually, if you prefer."

Kiba eyed his mysterious Samaritan. "Just who are you?"

The ANBU turned to his work. "No-one suspicious if that's what you're thinking."

"As your Superior I command you to answer my question." Naruto faced the Hyuga boy as he moved closer, still in an attack position. "Why? Why did you mentally attack Hinata like that when she was trying so hard?" The Hyuga charged and launched into Kaiten. Naruto swung his Tessen and a great gust swamped Neji. His perfect sphere of Chakra lost form and he fell sprawling on the ground. "Insulting Hinata, automatically deciding she was a loser, I don't care what the hell has happened with your Clan but people who call others losers like that are people I won't forgive!"

Neji pushed himself off the ground, picking stone out of cuts and grazes. "Fine, I'll tell you. You've told me about a Hyuga past I didn't know about so I'll tell you about their present that you don't know about. I'll tell you about the Hyuga Clan's Destiny of Hatred."


	10. Chapter 10

Naruto is a manga series by Masashi Kishimoto published by Shueisha in Japan's Shonen Jump and VIZ Media in the American Shonen Jump. The anime series is produced by Studio Pierrot and Aniplex for TV Tokyo and Animax with VIZ Media having gone through multiple networks over the years. I don't own the series, I make no money out of doing this. Please support the official release.

Hey guys, another serving of Slug coming at you Full Throttle. Be warned, this is a very talky one. Chapter 10 and we're still only halfway into the fight between Naruto and Neji. Hope you enjoy it!

As a side note, I'm preparing to write Slug versions of the movies and I thought I see what you thought. They'll be published separate and be loosely tied to the main Slug universe, much like the actual movies are to the original series. I will also be playing around with the agaes so that there will be some totally legal, totally smexy Yaoi all over the movie. Possibly Yuri and Het if pairings happen but most definitely Yaoi of the main Pairing. It's a bit of a cheat I know but hey it's my fanfic and my timetable. Let me know what you thought of the movies and we'll see what happens.

Chapter Ten: Gemini Shadow! An Intruder in the Hyuga Estate!

"As your Superior I command you to answer my question." Naruto faced the Hyuga boy as he moved closer, still in an attack position. "Why? Why did you mentally attack Hinata like that when she was trying so hard?" The Hyuga charged and launched into Kaiten. Naruto swung his Tessen and a great gust swamped Neji. His perfect sphere of Chakra lost form and he fell sprawling on the ground. "Insulting Hinata, automatically deciding she was a loser, I don't care what the hell has happened with your Clan but people who call others losers like that are people I won't forgive!"

Neji pushed himself off the ground, picking stone out of cuts and grazes. "Fine, I'll tell you. You've told me about a Hyuga past I didn't know about so I'll tell you about their present that you don't know about. I'll tell you about the Hyuga Clan's Destiny of Hatred."

Hiashi's eyes gave the barest flicker of emotion on his normally stern face. Not even his daughter noticed this. Hiashi moved closer to listen, wanting to know what was wrong with his nephew, it was truly as he thought.

Kiba didn't notice anything of this as he was too busy watching the ANBU focusing before thrusting his hand upon Hinata's chest. Kiba was at a loss, his teammate had lost consciousness and he was scared. The ANBU looked up. "Don't worry, I'm a Doctor."

"The Main Family of the Hyuga Clan has a 'special' ninjutsu that's been passed down for as long as any of us can remember. It's a Juinjutsu."

"A Juinjutsu?" questioned Naruto. Neji nodded. "That's barbaric. The Uzumaki Clan Scrolls state that in Uzushiogakure any and all Juinjutsu were labelled Kinjutsu. The teaching and use of Juinjutsu was punishable with expulsion!" Naruto felt rage boil in him. 'Neji's family used Juinjutsu on him? What one? And why?'

"What a village that you speak off. But this is Konohagakure and no such measures exist. The mark of the Hyuga Soke no Juinjutsu represents 'a bird in a cage'. It is… the symbol of being tied down to an inescapable destiny." The Hyuga Genin reached behind his head and undid the knot of his Hitai-ate. He let it drop from his head to reveal a barge black mark that covered his entire forehead. It looked like a manji with hooks on either side of it.

Naruto looked at the Mark with a look of disbelief. "That Mark is…."

The Sandaime Hokage watched the fight with a grave expression. 'I can't believe that a Clan in my village conducted themselves like this. How could I have been so blind? All of the Main House either wear the Hitai-ate around their neck or a clothing decoration or not at all while the Branch House have worn them on their forehead without fail. It was so obvious yet I…..'

Tenten looked to be in great pain as she watched this. The two opponents facing each other were both people she had a bond with and she didn't know who she should be supporting. They both had a reason to fight that she understood and she wanted them both to win and yet…

In the past month she had felt a bond form when she and Naruto had been together. Not the bond that so many of her fellow Kunoichi wanted to form with Uchiha Sasuke 'yuck'. No, her bond with Naruto was more like the bond she had with her parents. And yet she also had a bond with her teammate. She finally knew why her teammate had always seemed to carry so much pain in him. Had he told her she might well have taken the information to her father. She could picture him laying siege to the Hyuga Estate and squeezing Hiashi's neck till his head exploded. Probably just as well that didn't happen, thought she did notice a fire of anger ignite in her father's eyes when Neji revealed the Juinjutsu….

Hyuga Hiashi closed his eyes as a wave of shame filled him. 'Hizashi, I have failed you… and that boy…. I recognise you now. Not as Uzumaki though. I recognise that Chakra network and those eyes from last week. The little sneak thief….'

"When I was four, on the day of 'Lady Hinata's' birthday, the Hyuga Soke no Juinjutsu was carved into my forehead. But most have remembered that day as the day a Shinobi Leader from Kumogakure, a village that Konohagakure had been in conflict with, came to the village. While I screamed in agony, being branded as an inferior specimen of the Clan, the village was in celebration over the Alliance Treaty that was to take place. While everyone celebrated, one Clan was absent. The Hyuga Clan. From Child to Genin to Chunin to Jonin. Even the ANBU. All Hyuga Clan members were in the Clan Estate for 'Lady Hinata's' third birthday. Because that's when we brand the Branch members; the Hyuga Heir's 'Birthday Present' is a mass branding of the inferior stock." Neji reactivated his Byakugan. He watched as the 'orange-red' Chakra surged and hit against the Tenketsu spots he had blocked. It seemed to flow harder at one spot until the damage was undone and moved to the next. 'So that diamond was a seal. He must have set up that seal with a secondary Chakra network specifically for fighting Hyuga. He should be able to just fight with that network but he wants to talk while he fixes himself. Maybe his Chakra control for that network isn't as good.' Neji manoeuvred himself closer to his opponent. "My father was there as well. Hyuga Hizashi. 'Lady Hinata's' father, Hyuga Hiashi, and my father, Hyuga Hizashi, were twin brothers. But Hiashi was the first-born and became a member of the Main Family while my father, the second-born, became a member of the Branch Family." Hyuga Neji shook his head in derision. "When the Hyuga Clan's 'First Daughter' became three I was made a 'Bird in a Cage' through their Juinjutsu….. as a member of the Branch House of the Clan. And with this Juinjutsu in place a member of the Main House can…" Neji thought back to that time, years ago, when he saw his Uncle put his own brother through so much pain he passed out. With just a flick of a wrist.

'Never forget your duty.' His father's words echo in his mind. But why? "This Seal can, with a secret hand seal, destroy the wearer's mind. It only disappears when they die, and it seals the ability of the Byakugan with it. There are many who would go to any length to get their hands on the Hyuga Kekkei Genkai. So, with this Juinjutsu, the Branch House is allowed to live only to protect the Main House. Any form of disobedience is prohibited by the Main House. An advanced system, created to eternally protect the Byakugan of the Hyuga Clan." Neji surged forward and launched his Hakke but his arm suddenly jarred. Naruto had folded his Tessen and pincered his arm. Naruto applied more pressure and pulled Neji forward. He then delivered an uppercut to Neji's face. The double Chakra Network running through the Orange Genin at the time increased the power of the blow and fired him over thirty feet across the arena.

Naruto tucked the Tessen back into the obi sash and walked over to Neji. 'It couldn't be that simple. A hatred of his Clan based on a Juinjutsu? Understandable but Neji was a Genius Genin, he could resent his position but that shouldn't make him so full of hatred that he would nearly kill Hinata in a Chunin Preliminary Match. That Hinata didn't use the Juinjutsu should have told him something.' "You're an idiot Neji-san. Do you hate Hina-chan just because you got branded on her birthday? That she, whose abilities pale in comparison to yours, will get to order you around? Do you not think it's strange that a Main House member couldn't just use that Cage on you?" He knelt done and whispered into Neji's ear as the Hyuga stood up. "It's not that she wouldn't, she can't. The Hyuga Elders are planning to have her 'demoted' to the Branch House. Now that they have Hanabi, a prodigy like you, they don't need a 'bumbling idiot' like Hinata." Neji looked at the blond in shock and pushed away.

"How? How would you know about something likethat?" Naruto smirked and flicked his arms. Twin tornadoes appeared and Neji rolled away. He turned and Naruto was stood directly in front of him.

"I'm the Gemini Shadow you Hyuga have been talking about." The two Chakra networks flexed as one and like a cannon, Naruto's fist drove into Neji's gut.

In the week leading up to the Chunin Exams Finals a strange phenomenon had been observed by many Hyuga on the Hyuga Estate. A small Shinobi completely covered in black had been seen on the grounds, specifically the Hyuga Library. When they had tried to see his Chakra to figure out who it was, they had been baffled by the fact the individual had TWO Chakra Networks circulating his body. And he was stronger, faster than an ordinary Shinobi of his size. They hadn't brought it to the Hokage because they feared the Double Chakra Network may have represented a flaw, a weakness developing in the 'All-Seeing-Eye' of the Hyuga.

Neji coughed and wheezed as he pushed his aching body. His opponent was not what he had expected. The 'Dead-last Loser' that had vowed to beat him was now some sort of 'Urban Legend' on the Hyuga Estate. Capable of eluding Shinobi whose job is to see through shadows. "And then…. Then came the day that tainted my life and showed me the terrible thing that is Destiny. The Day my Father was killed by the Main House." Naruto gasped. "Yes. One night, years ago. 'Lady Hinata' was taken by an intruder. Lord Hiashi took care of it, the intruder was all in black and his face was covered. Can you guess who it was?" Naruto shook his head and Hiashi's face became even sterner. "It was the Kumogakure Shinobi Leader, who had just signed the Peace Treaty. Obviously, the whole reason for the Treaty was so that they could get close enough to steal a Hyuga with the Byakugan. But Kumogakure, with one of their Leaders dead, on Konohagakure soil, by Konohagakure hands, saw an opportunity. They threatened Konoha with war till they made a single demand. One thing and there would be no war. They wanted the body of a Hyuga ninja with the Byakugan. They wanted the corpse of Lord Hiashi. And Konohagakure agreed."

Hanabi turned round and saw her father sink back into his seat with a weary expression. 'But father is alive and here. What happened then…'

The Sandaime Hokage sighed and fell back into his chair. 'The Hyuga Clan are playing host to great deal of drama right now, and I always thought they were a bunch of stiff shirts.' He turned to the Kazekage and fixed him with a glare. 'Normally I'd have to repeatedly tell him that I did not share his taste for testing the next generation with surprise assassination attempts. He's been almost completely silent. Could it be that he is…..'

"War was averted by killing my father and sending him in place of a Main House Member." Neji began to laugh. "Heh, to escape this horrid fate in this damnable cage, the only escape is death. They were twins, identical. Their strength, virtually the same…. Born first, born second….. Their destinies were decided by just that. Do you understand Naruto? Your fate was decided the moment I became your opponent! No Fuinjutsu from your forgotten Clan or Iryo-ninjutsu from the Medical Centre can change your fate."

Naruto raised his fist and in a twirl senbon appeared. "Now I know the cause of your darkness, I can now treat it. Hyuga Neji, prepare yourself for a lesson in Naruto Style Iryo-nindo!"


	11. Chapter 11

Naruto is a manga series by Masashi Kishimoto published by Shueisha in Japan's Shonen Jump and VIZ Media in the American Shonen Jump. The anime series is produced by Studio Pierrot and Aniplex for TV Tokyo and Animax with VIZ Media having gone through multiple networks over the years. I don't own the series, I make no money out of doing this. Please support the official release.

Hey guys! Chapter Eleven of Slug is here and it's got TWO new Jutsus. I have decided to take on a reader's challenge: KitsuneLover93's Challenge two. Flute Using Naruto.

Things needed to do so-

1. The Sandaime gives him a flute so he can have something to do (along with nin and genjutsu scrolls for said flute, which can be given later)

2. Blindness is an OPTION

3. Naruto being mute is an OPTION (if chosen, sign language is mandatory ( _typed like this_))

4. Flute summons (or normal summons (any kind))

Author can add things if they choose!

So, it's not gonna be Sandaime that gives him the Flute, I have someone else in mind. Blindness will be featured and the Flute will have a role in that story. No mutes, and there will be summons involved. Now on with the story.

Chapter Eleven: Iryo-nindo! The Path of a Healer!

"First, put your Hitai-ate back on." Naruto pointed at it on the ground. Neji looked at his opponent confusedly. He saw the 'Orange Chakra' fade and the diamond reappear on Naruto's forehead as the blond Genin walked over and picked up the black headband.

"What are you talking about?" Neji asked Naruto as the blond Genin stood before him, holding the Hitai-ate out to him. "I tell you are destined to be defeated by me and you are concerned about wearing a headband?" He pushed it back.

Naruto pushed it back, and onto Neji's chest. "By wearing these, we recognise each other as fellow Shinobi; as rivals in this exam striving to prove our worth in front of our allies, our comrades and people we don't know, people who couldn't give a rat's ass about whether we live or die. Sometimes, the only person that might care is an enemy." Neji swung his arms out and launched into his Kaiten. Naruto leapt into the air, riding the Chakra and still holding the Hitai-ate.

In his other hand, he pulled out the Tessen called Swoop and concentrated on the Kaiten. In a swing, he dipped Swoop into the Kaiten and pulled the Kaiten apart like a ball of yarn. Neji faltered and tried to move away but stopped when he saw that Naruto was still too far away to hit him with the Tessen. Naruto swung out and to Neji's amazement, the Hyuga Genius felt the his chest tear open. A long cruel gash appeared out of nowhere going from the left of his waist to his right shoulder.

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The Suna Team Leader Baki choked on his dango. 'Kaze no Yaiba!' Or, rather a derivative of it. Like Temari's Kamaitachi no Jutsu, the Orange Genin had channelled it through his Tessen. However, the boy hadn't flung the attack, nor was it a 'flurry of kunai made of wind' as Temari would have described it. No, it was like his technique; a single sharp cut that bypasses virtually any defence. The boy must have concentrated his Wind Chakra into the fan and used it as an invisible extension, increasing the range and lethality of what would have been a simple melee attack. 'This boy….. channelling Chakra into attacks without handsigns… Nintaijutsu and Ninkenjutsu…. Such a fighting style would complement an Iryo-nin well,' Baki thought.

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"I can't imagine how it must have hurt to have lost your father at that age, but to think that Destiny is all decided because of that is a huge mistake." Naruto charged close and locked one of Neji's arms in a hold while he swung a leg out to knock the Hyuga off balance. As Neji slipped, Naruto lifted and and brought his opponent down to the ground with a slam. Not giving Neji a chance to recover, he put the Hyuga prodigy into a submission hold. Neji struggled and winced, preparing to feel the dirt and stone rub into his wound. But it didn't come. While still struggling, he was able to see his cut close up and form a long scar. Finally the hold relents and he rolls out of it, but not far as his Hitai-ate appears in front of him. "Put it on."

Neji stares at his opponent. 'Shosenjutsu? He healed my cut, but why. "Why have you healed me? Why do you use a Civilian Martial Art? What were you talking about earlier, when you said 'sometimes the only person that might care is an enemy?' Why?"

Naruto stood up and watched as Neji picked up the Hitai-ate and stand. "Ju Yoku go o Seisu: gentleness controls hardness. I follow the principles of Judo. I couldn't get you to listen to me by shouting at you so I used Shosenjutsu to make you take pause. Kano Jigoro originally created a bujutsu, but he eventually realised that the principles he created with it; Ju Yoku go o Seisu and Seiryoku Zen'Yo: maximum efficiency, minimum effort, could be combined with Jita Kyoei: mutual welfare and benefit, to form a budo. The concept of Judo is this; 'In short, resisting a more powerful opponent will result in your defeat, whilst adjusting to and evading your opponent's attack will cause him to lose his balance, his power will be reduced, and you will defeat him. This can apply whatever the relative values of power, thus making it possible for weaker opponents to beat significantly stronger ones. This is the theory of ju yoku go o seisu.' A Civilian version of your Clan Fighting Style that you have been floored by. The reason I learned it was to understand your Clan. However, the only one who seems to have taken the philosophy of your Juken seriously is Hina-chan. I told you about respect for an enemy because look around." Neji scanned his surroundings. "Can you name any of those civilians? Did you ever play with Civilian kids? No? Do you know why? Because they fear us. We are trained, almost from birth, to fight and kill in the defence of our Village and for pay. We can do things that no ordinary Civilian is capable of. They don't understand us and so they avoid us. They don't respect us. I wear my Hitai-ate and my opponent knows I am a Shinobi of Konohagakure. If I die they can say 'I killed Uzumaki Naruto of Konohagakure.' Not 'some Shinobi'.

Neji placed his thumbs on his jacket and after a moment of concentration, two holes appeared. He looped the holes with his Hitai-ate and fastened it back up with it. "You're hopeless." In a flash, he charged into Naruto. Before Naruto could react, Neji had channelled as much Chakra he could into his fist and drove it straight into the Orange Genin's chest. The Chakra released and flooded Naruto's body. Blood erupted from his mouth and drenched the Hyuga prodigy's face. Immediately, the Hyuga Clan's Genius Genin launched what appeared to be Hakke Rokujuyon Sho followed by a Chakra enhanced kick. Naruto flew across the arena and as he did his body exploded with blood. Cuts appeared all over his body. Neji began to laugh maniacally as the blond Genin landed with a wet thud. "What did you think of that? I saw that second circuit and realised what you were doing. To make sure that doesn't work this time I gave you my special attack, that I reserve only for the most undeserving of Ninja; Rokujushi Setsudan Hakke, Eight Trigrams Sixty Four Amputations. Not only did I hit your Tenketsu. I severed them." With that he turned to Genma, who looked visibly shaken. "Proctor, it's over."

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Hiashi turned to see his daughter on her knees throwing up. "Hanabi!" He moved to her side and within seconds was holding her as she dry-heaved. "What is it Hanabi?"

Hanabi began to sob uncontrollably. "Did you not see it father? When those blows hit I could…. I could…. See the Chakra lines….. it was like they were bleeding. And now…. It's like he's invisible unless I turn off the Byakugan. Father, I'm scared." She pushed herself further into her father's embrace while he rubbed her back and stroked her hair in a vain attempt to comfort her.

Hiashi looked at the scene and felt bile rise in his throat too. 'Such a brutal assault. Even more so than his attack on Hinata from the reports.' He thought to himself. 'What is he thinking? Executing a fellow Konoha Genin like this?' Hiashi felt shame overcome his disgust. 'Hizashi…. Your son….'

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"Hijutsu: Mushidama." The monotone voice called out. Instantly, a swarm of kikaichu started to swarm Nara Shikamaru as he tried to run out onto the arena. It didn't cover him entirely but the bugs had managed to secure the young Nara's hands and feet as Aburame Shino slowly walked over and pulled him back to his seat. When Shino felt Shikamaru had calmed down he recalled the kikaich back into himself. "You cannot interfere. It is against the rules to enter another Shinobi or Kunoichi's match. Why are you acting like this? I'm listening"

Shikamaru rubbed his wrists and turned to the bug-using Genin. "I've just seen a friend, a comrade-in-arms on pranking missions and recently a role-model for self-improvement, get cut open by a guy who beat his own COUSIN half to death. I can't just sit here and do nothing." Shikamaru huffed and stood up, finding himself uncomfortable while sitting next to a guy with bugs living inside him.

"I can sympathise with your feelings of loss. As you said, Uzumaki's opponent beat Hyuga Hinata half to death." At this, Shikamaru noticed Shino's sunglasses slip to reveal eyes quivering in anger. The bug-using Genin quickly pushed them back. "While I never took part in pranking, Hyuga was my teammate and so I feel the loss you feel in the sense of losing a 'comrade-in-arms'. But the rules are very clear and no matter how you or I feel we cannot hope to continue in the Exam or claim the title of Chunin if we do not obey the rules of the Chunin Exam Finals. You will have to wait until you have defeated the Suna Kunoichi and myself before you can get your revenge." Shikamaru sighed. If the Aburame was willing to break his pattern of monosyllabic sentences then he could bide his time.

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Naruto woke to the sound of a flute playing. It was a strangely relaxing tune that made his aches and pains fade. He eventually noticed he was in a pool of water. He sat upright and looked around. It was that 'power plant' in him that the fox was sealed in. The sound was coming from…

The music stopped. "You're awake then. Good. I would hate to think you'd get to just die unconscious while I have to watch it all come down. What in the world were you thinking?"

"I was trying to... wait. Die? I'm dying? And when did you start playing the flute?"

"I have been playing since before you were born and yes. We're dying. That Hyuga boy you were trying to save punched a shitload of Chakra into your heart and caused heart failure. He then sliced you open at your Tenketsu points so if it isn't blood loss, then it's Chakra shutdown on account of irrevocable damage to your Chakra Network. Even if you were able to release the Yin Seal, your Second Network wouldn't get past the damage and you'd fry your brain with all the Chakra we've stored. Lastly, he put another shitload of Chakra into a finisher; a kick to the gut. Right into the Seal. My Seal is now totally warped that I couldn't escape even if I possessed you and got you to pull off the Seal Paper on this cage."

"Would it help?" The fox turned to the Genin. "Would you be more comfortable if I removed that Seal Paper?" The fox was flabbergasted.

"Boy, I just told you we're dying and you want to make me comfortable?"

"Well, yeah. You played the flute for me till I woke up and if there's no way for us to survive this, I can at least make you comfortable." All this was said with a sincere smile that the fox hadn't seen in a long time. "How long do you think we have?"

The fox rose up. "Kurama."

Naruto ran over to the cage and climbed up the bars to look the fox in the eyes. "What was that?"

"It's like you said Naruto."

"_Everyone should have a name, how can we acknowledge each other if we don't know each other's names? I can't very well say thankyou fox or thankyou ninetails ya know?" The demon fox known to many as Kyuubi wasn't sure he could control himself at this point. He began to growl. "You seem to be angry a lot ya know? Maybe if we could be friends you wouldn't have to be so angry all the time ya know?" _

_The fox collected himself and tried to sound as tough as possible. "How about this brat, I'll send Chakra to your new seal and you can do whatever you like with it. If I am impressed then I will give you my name." Naruto grinned. _

"_Deal."_

"A-and so your name is…"

"Yes. Now say it."

"Kurama." At that, the whole room shook and shivered. Naruto reached out and ripped the Seal Paper away and the whole room fell away and became a formless white. "Wha-What the…. Where are we?"

"I gave you my name Naruto, we are now joined." The white room changed again and suddenly they were in Konoha. At the Hokage Mountain. The fox explained. "We're currently in your mindspace while I move us to the Yin Seal. I'm afraid that Seal on your belly will be visible at all time now, it's utterly warped and I doubt even a Master Uzumaki could fix….it….. Naruto what is that?" Kurama signalled to the addition to the Hokage Mountain in Naruto's mindspace.

Beside the other Hokages were two heads, close together and looking regal. The face on the left was obviously Naruto, the hair was slightly longer but the face was smiling the same grin it always had when Naruto was truly happy. The other face was…. "Well, when I become Hokage, it's not like I'm going to lie about who I am and since we're a team I thought… The Jinchukiri Hokage of Konoha should have his partner up there with him ya know Kurama?"

The Nine-tailed Demon Fox, Kyuubi. With a sweep of one of his tails he could cause Tsunamis to crash and storms to rage. He was the embodiment of natural disasters. Kurama had only cried twice in the thousands of years he had lived; the day his father died…. And now.

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"So are we dead?" Naruto dug into a tub of ramen that had appeared in front of him and turned to Kurama, who had dug into a ramen box the size of Ichiraku Ramen. They looked out as the sun set on the Konoha in Naruto's mind.

"No, right now we're in an infinite second. While we have been fixing our inner workings virtually no time has passed outside. You're still on the floor bleeding and suffering heart failure." Kurama set down his chopsticks and rolled onto his back, scrabbling to get an itch that had been bothering him.

"But, we've sorted out your Seal, cannibalised the remains to strengthen the Yin Seal and bonded, what do you think the odds are I'd still be able to fight?" Kurama rolled back onto his belly.

"Slim if you wake up and then try to release the Yin Seal. Your wrists are in no condition to move. You'll have to use our bonded Chakra to get it going and activate the Yin Seal after to take care of the rest. You just have to call my name."

"Alright, let's finish this. And Kurama?"

"Yes Naruto?"

"Can you teach me to play the flute?"

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Shiranui Genma moved over to the bleeding husk of the boy that he had seen working in the Medical Centre only days ago. He had been a total pro and Shiranui had believed the boy would help put Konoha on the map for its Medical capabilities just like back in the day when Tsunade lived in Konoha. He turned to the audience and saw Izumo and Kotetsu loudly arguing about how Naruto had cheated them out of their winnings.

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Katanakaji felt a rage that threatened to overwhelm him. Before, when a teammate had died in his arms, he had felt despair. Today he did not feel despair at the sight of the boy he wanted to help dead on the ground. Today, he wanted to tear the Hyuga Estate apart. He wanted to put Hyuga Neji's head on a pike then tear the Council of Elders apart, limb by limb….

His daughter Tenten felt much the same way. She knew the second Neji had stood up that Naruto had healed Neji. This 'Iryo-nindo' philosophy Naruto had mentioned seemed to mean Naruto wanted to reach Neji before beating him. Neji had replied to this kindness by killing him. She didn't think she could be around her teammate anymore, she decided she would ask for a transfer after the exams. Then again, maybe she could just retire from the ninja life…. 'Naruto, I'm sorry I asked you to help my damned team. I'm so sorry.'

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Genma knelt down beside the blood-soaked Genin, the beige Iryo-nin coat was no longer beige and he doubted there was enough cleaner in the village that would get all of the blood out. 'Sorry kid.' He raised his arm up and shouted. "WINNER OF THE FIRST ROUND! NE-" He was cut off by a hand grabbing his arm.

"KURAMA!" Genma was swamped in Chakra and leapt away before he was carried away. Naruto stood up and Genma saw his and slitted like an animal. Like a fox. "YIN SEAL! KAI!" The diamond on his forehead disappeared again and orange-red lines spun and intertwine across his face and down his neck. The jacket, the haori, the kimono, all thrown off and making a soggy pile. The orange-red lines flowed across the bare skin and Genma saw a black spiral on the boy's stomach before he turned and backed as far away as possible. This match was far from over and he did not want to get hit by anything this…. this….. this Immortal was throwing. "FUINJUTSU! MOKO! KAI!"

The ground erupted.


	12. Chapter 12

Naruto is a manga series by Masashi Kishimoto published by Shueisha in Japan's Shonen Jump and VIZ Media in the American Shonen Jump. The anime series is produced by Studio Pierrot and Aniplex for TV Tokyo and Animax with VIZ Media having gone through multiple networks over the years. I don't own the series, I make no money out of doing this. Please support the official release.

Heya guys! Some more Slug for you along with an announcement. From now on Slug will be updated weekly. Work is going through staff changes and the work for my course is becoming harder so there isn't really a lot of time. The chapters will be longer so I hope that makes up for it.

Chapter Twelve: The Finale! Kurama and Naruto versus Neji and Destiny!

"Proctor, it's over." Neji Hyuga stood and stared at the sum of his rage. 'People are born burdened with a destiny they cannot oppose,' he thought. 'Father wanted me to live. He wished I had been born in the Main House. But this Mark… he said he wanted to understand me, but how could he understand to live with a Mark that curses his existence? His destiny is to be defeated, to never ascend higher than the rank of Genin.' He turned around and see that Naruto wasn't moving. 'What's this?' Neji took a step toward Naruto. 'Setsudan isn't supposed to do that. It severs the main Chakra networks, the arteries and veins. The smaller networks should still be intact. He should be getting up and realising he can't mould Chakra, like Lee…' he feels a shot of pain in his hand and sees blood seeping through the bandages. 'Chakra damage….. I punched his chest before… for my hand to be bleeding like this… the amount of Chakra that would need to have been in my hand…' "Proctor," Shiranui Genma turned to the Genin with a look of…. fear? "I believe that Tra- that Genin is having a heart attack. He needs immediate medical attention."

Genma walked over to the bleeding mess that had been a remarkable new addition to the medical team of the Konoha Medical Centre. 'Was there a quaver in that kids voice? Looks like for all his talk, Hyuga Neji isn't ready for that side of being a Shinobi….' Genma knelt down beside the blood-soaked Genin, the beige Iryo-nin coat was no longer beige and he doubted there was enough cleaner in the village that would get all of the blood out. 'Sorry kid.' He raised his arm up and shouted. "WINNER OF THE FIRST ROUND!"

Neji saw the look on the Proctor's face and he heard the whisper before he raised his arm. Naruto was dead. 'He tried to rise above what destiny had in store for him and I killed him for it…. Isn't that what I'm doing here?' Neji is brought out of his thoughts when the Proctor's declaration is cut off abruptly. He turns and sees Naruto standing up. 'He-he's alive.' He hears Naruto scream out a name. 'Kurama? What's that?' He looks again with the Byakugan. 'That Chakra….. It's yellow now…. Did he have a third network all this time? No, he's just released his Yin Seal and it's the same…. I….. I really did sever his other Chakra networks. What did he just say?'

"FUINJUTSU! MOKO! KAI!"

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On Mount Myoboku, the Legendary Toad Sannin known as Jiraiya was running. Running from the aggressive and unrelenting pursuit of a large toad that bore him a great deal of ill will. Gamabunta swung down his sword in a vicious downward arc. Jiraiya rolled to the side and felt blade graze against his hand. Jiraiya had a fairly good idea as to why Gamabunta was angry and the reason was just two words: Haruno Sakura.

Two weeks after the Preliminary exams had finished, Jiraiya had decided to take his new apprentice on a trip to the home of the Toad Sages. Her Chakra level was incredibly low so he decided that teaching her to channel and control Nature Chakra would give her more power. They went to the area that the Training Oil was made. The Oil made it easier to absorb Nature Chakra but evaporate if one ever tried to take it away from the mountain. He had asked her to strip down so he could oil her up, instead she jumped into the pool and hadn't been seen since. It had not gone down well with the Great Toad Sage.

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"FUINJUTSU! MOKO! KAI" The ground of the arena shook, like an earthquake. Chakra came alight and drew a large spiral into the ground. And then it exploded.

'The Uzumaki Clan's deadly Seal, Moko….. Onslaught' Hiashi watched as a mass of weapons burst from the ground. Kunai, ninja stars, tashibishi, all sorts of bladed tools came from the ground and circled the yellow-eyed shinobi. 'The caster remotely controls a virtually infinite amount of unsealed weapons that return to the original Seal when broken. In the Shinobi Wars, we Hyuga would protect the Uzumakis while they created the Seal. You finally activated the Seal Uzumaki, are you planning to end this fight now?'

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Naruto raised his arm and the weapons surged towards the Hyuga prodigy. 'What is this technique?' He activated the Kaiten. The blades shattered and disappeared. 'What? My Kaiten is taking up more Chakra than usual….. those blades are eating my Chakra!' With that, the Hyuga prodigy cancelled the technique and ran. He kept low and activated the Byakugan. By using the almost three hundred and sixty degree vision of the All-seeing White-eyes, he kept his eyes on Naruto's arm movements to predict the movement of the blades. 'What do I have left?' He searched his pouch. 'Thirteen throwing stars, twenty kunai and fifteen exploding tags. I can work with this….' He threw the stars at Naruto, the swirling mass of blades created a barrier and then returned to attacking Neji. The Hyuga Prodigy threw kunai onto the ground. 'One…two….three….. four….. five….. six….. seven…. eight… nine ….. ten! Now,' "KAI!" The ten kunai exploded, breaking up the mass and putting space between it and him. He ran for Naruto, kunai in hand. The blades failed to return to the Seal and fell to the ground, a confused look graced the blond Genin's face. "Surprised? I infused my stars with my own Chakra before I threw them at you. They weren't supposed to hit you, they were to disrupt the Chakra that was controlling the attack." Naruto only had a few dozen blades left. Neji swung his hand back and threw the kunai with all his might. As it drew close Neji gave the command. "KAI!" The kunai exploded and propelled the blond across the arena. He lay on the floor gasping as Neji moved closer. Suddenly, Naruto burst into a puff of smoke. 'A Kage Bunshin?' He spun to where Naruto had been standing. The blades were all on the ground, in a circle. And within that circle, 'A hole?' The ground shook beneath him. It cracked and sank and finally a fist punched through. And kept going until it landed square on Neji's jaw.

Neji shot up into the air. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" A three clones appeared and leapt up into the air. The delivered hard kicks to send him higher and higher up. "U! Zu! Ma! Ki!" The last Naruto appeared above him and delivered a powerful rotating heel drop than cannoned into Neji's stomach. "Naruto Rendan!"

Neji landed with a hard thud into the ground. He coughed and tried to push himself up. "Y-you… _cough….. _how could you understand what it is like to be burdened with a symbol you could never be rid of?" Naruto walked over to him and pulled him up onto his knees. Up close Neji saw the areas he had cut were healed over, the blood still dripping from nails that had dug their way through rock and earth. He saw the yellow eyes with slitted pupils, like an animal's. He saw a strange black spiral on Naruto's stomach. Runic triangles circled it, making it look like a black sun. Some of the triangles seemed to stretch out and upwards, like the pattern had been pulled and stretched out of shape. 'Is that a….'

"Yes Neji, I do know what it's like. And unlike you I had no family around to offer me anything. Unlike you, who only imagined resentment from the Main House, I had real resentment from everyone. Only Iruka-sensei strove to understand me and acknowledge my existence. Hinata fought on while bleeding inside trying to change herself. To change the lot in her life, the life of a daughter of the Main House who was ignored and treated like a nuisance. She has suffered just as much as you Neji. And I have suffered too. But it's no reason to hate everyone. Look at what you have done so far; you're fighting the odds, 'destiny', just as much as Hinata and I." Neji flinched in surprise.

"Wh-why do you fight so hard against destiny?" Neji was at a loss. 'Could it possible that Hinata-nee is like me….. and Naruto?'

"Because I was called a loser. That's why I fight, why I'll never give in, why I'll win, why I'll become the Hokage and Chief Medic of Konoha. And it's why I'll change the Hyuga."

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Kiba watched colour return to Hinata's face and he sighed in relief. 'Don't scare me like that again Hina-chan.' He turned to the ANBU. "You can do it all huh?" Suddenly the ANBU's hand thrust out and hit the Inuzuka's chest.

"I'm afraid you'll have to miss the rest of the tournament puppy. Can't have you mentioning me can I?"

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Neji pushed himself off of Naruto and threw a kunai. "You're lying! You can't change fate! You can't" Naruto stood and dodged the kunai and as more came he didn't move except to dodge out of the way. Neji ran out of tools to throw and Naruto stepped forward. His eyes shifted back to their sky blue and the diamond returned. He formed a hand seal, his eyes locked on Neji.

"Uzumaki Fuinjutsu: Sokubaku no Jokyo." The mark on Naruto's stomach seemed to struggle to move but stuttered, the 'black sun's' tails spread out further across Naruto's stomach and up to his chest. His spiky hair grew longer and longer until gravity pulled the hair down. His hair became orange then red, like the colour had been poured into his hair. He continued to walk to Neji, who was rooted to the spot. He started to flinch with every step and chuckled at Neji's look of confusion. "I can't hold this form for very long but I'll show you I can change fate." He reached out and laid his hand on Neji's forehead. To Neji's surprise Naruto then thrust his hand forward. He grabbed hold and pulled. "Just don't try showing off for a few days alright?" With that he pulled his hand away and a great pain tore its way through Neji's mind. Naruto fell back gasping for air. "Kai."

Neji stared at what Naruto and gasped. He fell to his knees with a look of utter wonderment. "Th-that's…."

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Hiashi stared at the gasping Uzumaki, whose hair was changing back to its usual blonde colour. 'Did he really…'

Hanabi stared at her cousin and tried to describe the look on his face. Relief? Fear? Confusion?

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Neji fell to his knees. "Proctor, I forfeit. Naruto has won." The Proctor cleared his throat and made the announcement and the arena was swarmed with Iryo-nin rushing to provide the two Genin with medical attention. After some preliminary work and minor healing they were escorted off of the arena.

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Shikamaru felt his whole body relax. 'He's alive. He's alive.' He didn't understand how but that didn't matter. The ever-unpredictable dead-last-shinobi had defeated the Genius. He looked at the schedule of fights. Gaara was due to fight the absent Sasuke, then Shino and the Suna guy with the face-paint, his fight with the kunoichi was last. He got up and went to follow the Iryo-nin.

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Temari and Kankuro were worried. When the blond Genin called out 'Kurama' Gaara had started convulsing, cradling his head and muttering. He had stopped shaking and his hands were now tightly grasping his knees, like he wasn't sure what to do with his hands or himself. Temari looked up to where Baki-sensei was watching them. He looked as concerned as they were.

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Neji wakes up to find himself in a recovery room. He sees a tree outside a nearby window with a bird singing on it. 'Ugh, my head is killing me. Wait. My head.' He rushes off the bed to find the nearest mirror but swoons and lands on the floor.

"I did say don't do anything fancy Birdy." Neji looked up to see a grinning whiskered boy looking at him. "Hey, did you see what my hair looked like back then?"

Neji didn't know what else to do except nod. "Ye-yeah. It got long and red." 'Birdy?'

Naruto seemed to grin even more. "Really? Red sounds so awesome! It'd be nice if it could stay like that." He pulled his now long hair into a ponytail. "Right now my hair looks like a blond version of damned Pervy Sage." He didn't really seem that bothered by it, so Neji decided to continue his search for a mirror. Suddenly a large handheld one appeared, like one of the mirrors barbers have. "Here." Said the blond Genin as he held it for Neji.

Neji raised it to his face. 'Same chin, same mouth, same nose, eyes and…' And there was the …. absence of a mark. It wasn't there, nor any hint that it had ever been there, just a cut from when the metal of the Hitai-ate had cut into him. The bird in the window stopped singing and flew away. 'I'm free. He… he really did it.' "Uzumaki-sama, about the Setsudan… I never meant for it to-" The door to the room opened.

In the doorway stood the Head of the Hyuga Family, Hyuga Hiashi. "Uzumaki-sama, Neji-kun, I congratulate you both on a hard-fought match. The people of Konoha are still applauding your performance. Uzumaki-sama," he turned to Naruto with a bow, "when the exams are over and you have recovered, we shall discuss your position in the Hyuga Family and your future role in our affairs." He turned towards his nephew and went down on his knees and bowed his head. "Neji-kun, I sincerely apologise. I have failed you and I have dishonoured the memory of your father, my brother." Neji sat back on his bed and tried to regain his composure. "You see, on that day that your father died…. I fully intended to die." Whatever composure the young Hyuga prodigy had regained from his Uncle's apology went out the window as he begun to sputter.

"What? What are you talking about? My father was killed to take your place!"

"The results may appear that way, but it is not the truth." Hiashi was stood again and he looked upon his nephew with a sincere look that Neji found hard to argue with. The level of hurt he could see in his Uncle's eyes also added weight to the statement. "One of the Elders of the Main House brought your father into the meeting, he told Hizashi had already agreed to the plan but I couldn't send my own brother to…. In the end your father, he…" Neji looked at his Uncle and motioned for him to continue. "He floored me." Hiashi noted the look of surprise on Neji's face. "He said he wasn't doing it for the Main House, who he resented. He was doing it for his brother. He told me you had seen the ugly side of his face and that that mission to Kumo in my place was the first time he really got the chance to choose." Hiashi paused for a moment. "He asked me to tell you that he was not being killed to protect the Main House. He said that to protect his son, his brother and his whole village, he was choosing death with his own will. He said he wanted to disobey a Hyuga Elder just once and that he wanted to choose his own destiny just once. I wanted to wait until you were a little older but…. Please believe me Neji-kun, and accept my apology." He looked up from a bow to see tears welling up in his nephew's eyes.

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Later, Naruto had left to get a change of clothes when there was a knock at the door. Neji was looking out the window. "It's not locked." He didn't turn to face the door till he remembered that Naruto had forbidden him from using the Byakugan for at least the next twenty-four hours or he'd be at risk of a brain haemorrhage, among other things. He turned to meet his visitor. "Ah, Nara Shikamaru. I'm not sure as the reason for the visit but hell-" He was cut off by a lack of air and what felt like a hand on his throat.

"Kage-Kubishibari no Jutsu." The brown-haired Genin stated simply. "I could hold you like this till you couldn't breathe and longer so let me make this clear: If you hurt Uzumaki Naruto again I will kill you. Simple as that. Understand." Neji nodded and Shikamaru let him go. "Just so that we understand each other." Shikamaru left the room and Neji took a deep breath of free air.

'Naruto has some powerful friends it seems.' Mused Naruto as he read his chart.


	13. Chapter 13

Naruto is a manga series by Masashi Kishimoto published by Shueisha in Japan's Shonen Jump and VIZ Media in the American Shonen Jump. The anime series is produced by Studio Pierrot and Aniplex for TV Tokyo and Animax with VIZ Media having gone through multiple networks over the years. I don't own the series, I make no money out of doing this. Please support the official release.

Alright guys, another day, another Slug. If you saw any of these twists coming then your Psychic and get the hell outta my head :P

On another note, I've received a couple of comments saying they like the idea but don't like slash. A pretty crappy comment but then someone actually tried to put forward some thought into that critique. So I've decided to ask readers this: Would you like a het-ish version published alongside Slug Prince? I say het-ish because it would be two guys and a girl. I have my own prefernces on the matter but I'd like to hear from you. I would essentially just tweak certain details about the story so that while Naru has two guys in his bed here, in the other he has one of each. I want to continue using the three-way relationship dynamic and it would be a lot simpler to change just one of the partners. So would you like that? Would you want to keep Shika or Neji? And as for the lady, suggestions? Hinata? Tsunade? An OC? Let me know!

Chapter Thirteen: Absent! When are you going to show up Sasuke!

Clothes were delivered to the recovery room for Neji. Naruto quickly realised there wasn't a change of clothes coming for him so he used his Oiroke no Jutsu technique to take on a clothed, feminine form. Neji watched 'Naruko' leave, musing that she would make a fine bride. 'Naruko' smirked at Neji's first attempt at humour as he left.

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At his apartment, Naruto activated his Kage Bunshin no Jutsu to complete the two tasks he saw before him; tidy the place and decide on an outfit. His kimono and hakama had been taken somewhere for cleaning and repair and it had been the only set he had of that design. As the five 'Cleaning Narutos' moved to the kitchen, the other five clones were trying different outfits while the original made a delivery order to Ichiraku Ramen. One of the clones walked out wearing a mesh shirt and shorts with a belt of pouches and one of his Medical Coats. He was put in the mind of the crazy Proctor from the Forest Stage, Mita… Mitarashi Anko! Naruto immediately said no, another time maybe but not today. Another came out wearing his original outfit but when the clone tried to display some of their new moves it proved…. tearing. He wondered what was taking Sasuke so long to arrive….

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'Not now! I can't die yet!' His thoughts yelled at him. Uchiha Sasuke was buried in sand and rubble. He began to exhale as he shuffled. Before it had come crashing down, the young Uchiha had taken a deep breath and expanded his body as much as he could. Doing so meant that in this terrible moment of entrapment, he had created extra space for wriggling out. It was still a tight squeeze. As he struggled to dig his way out he remembered a time with Naruto, not long after the mission to Nami no Kuni…..

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The heir to the Uchiha Clan stood with a bemused look as he watched his…. teammate tear into the earth with his bare hands. "What are you doing Dobe? That's hardly ninja training." He sighed and watched a crow flying overhead, it's large black wings causing a great shadow across the training ground. When he turned back he coughed in surprise. The Dobe had managed to dig six feet into the ground.

"Stupid Teme, you gotta be prepared for anything ya know?" The voice seemed muffled until a hand burst through the ground roughly twelve feet from where Naruto had begun digging. Soon, the blonde's head squeezed its way out and he wore a daft, satisfied grin on his face. "In that mission we were trapped in mist and all kinds of stuff happened ya know? Couple of years ago I was walking past a building site and some of the earth shifted. I ended up falling in and I was trapped. I was woken by a mole biting at my ear and I forced my body to tuck in and then claw at it." Sasuke looked at the blonde's hands, the fingers were bleeding at the nails but at the same time the nails were slightly pointed. "From then on I practised digging as a way of escape and sneaking ya know? How do you think I've been able to hide from ANBU and Jonin eh?" Naruto himself up to sit on the edge of the new hole and grinned.

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Uchiha concentrated on holding his breath and remembered Naruto's advice. 'Don't hold your breath too long or you'll be gasp and run out of air. Talk slow breaths and keep your heart rate down. Concentrate on your goal and push through.' He thought about killing his brother, of avenging his Clan. But as that happened he began thinking about how Naruto had acted in Nami. How he had wanted to understand Zabuza and that kid with the Ice Mirrors. Was that what he wanted? 'Why did you decide to kill your Clan Itachi? Is that what I want? To understand?' He kept pushing through the earth and considered his next steps to restoring his Clan's Honour. He thought of the Mangekyo and its power. Suddenly, he saw the grinning face of Naruto. To achieve the Mangekyo Sharingan, one had to kill their best friend. His limited experience in interpersonal relationships told him that was Naruto. Naruto had grown up without a family much like him, and they spent a great deal of their time together; training and competing with one another. He felt… close to Naruto. The boy could smile and joke despite his crappy childhood in a way that Sasuke hadn't. And he would kill him to obtain the power to defeat Itachi. Just like his brother… 'That's a disturbing thought. He wants me meet him with eyes like him, but how can I want to be like a person like him?' Sasuke felt rage boil within him and the mark on his shoulder burned, trying to break through the Seal Kakashi had put on him. He dug harder, almost swiping the earth like it was an enemy. Finally, light burned his eyes and he took a big lungful of air. "Naruto. Thankyou for the lesson… Uzumaki-sensei."

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As he stood in the mirror, Naruto tried to decide if it was the right look for him. Orange three-quarter length trousers tucked into dark orange shin guards and his tool pouch worn to the front instead of the back, a long-sleeve mesh shirt with a shoulder holster holding his Tessen and his Hitai-ate was fastened across his chest by it. He was wearing black sandals and another of his customised Iryo-nin coats. This coat was a bit more special than the previous coat. He had a number of Seals built into the inside of the coat that could release stored Wind Chakra to control a fall or give him a speed boost. Or it could release stored Lightning Chakra as a trap or to add more oomph to an attack.

"Perfect."

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As he walked down the corridor to the recovery room, Naruto saw Shikamaru entering the recovery room he and Neji had shared. Thinking that the Nara boy had come to see how he was, he ran the rest of the way and went to open the door when he heard choking. "I could hold you like this till you couldn't breathe and longer so let me make this clear: If you hurt Uzumaki Naruto again I will kill you. Simple as that. Understand?" Naruto couldn't tell what Neji's response was but he heard someone gasp for air so he assumed Shikamaru had stopped. "Just so that we understand each other." The door started to open so the blonde Genin grabbed his report from the basket next to the door and buried his face in it while putting distance between himself and the door. Shikamaru left the room headed back to the arena area.

'Naruto has some powerful friends it seems.' Mused Naruto as he read his chart. 'Did I just refer to myself in the third person? Naruto is concerned…..'

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The 'Kazekage' turned to the Sandaime Hokage and gestured at the still raucous crowd. "They're quite restless aren't they?" He said with a slight laugh in his voice.

Hiruzen nodded. "It was quite the match wasn't it?" The 'Kazekage' shook his head.

"No Sandaime, I think you'll find it is more to do with the next match. For the other Kages and respected Jonins in the audience I doubt there is a match they'd enjoy more." The board was showing that the next fight to come was Subaku no Gaara and Uchiha Sasuke. The 'Kazekage' looked around. "By the way, where is he?"

A Jonin with a large scar across his face appeared and whispered into the Hokage's ears. Nothing could be heard by anyone else.

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Across the arena , people were yelling out for the battles to begin. Shikamaru and Naruto had returned and were watching from a balcony. The young Nara turned to the blonde, "Do you know what the deal is Naruto? Is Uchiha not going to show?" Before Naruto could answer the two Genin heard scuttling and turned to find Aburame Shino standing behind them.

The bug-user pushed his sunglasses back up his nose. "Confucious once said: The Wise do not approach The Dangerous. Could Uchiha have made a wise decision perhaps?"

Naruto saw Gaara not far from them. He noticed that the red-heads eyes became darker when they mentioned Sasuke. 'Could that guy have interfered with Sasuke's ability to enter?' He smiled and puffed his chest up as he faced the two Konoha Genin. "What are you talking about? Sasuke is definitely going to be here."

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Channelling his self-made technique, the Chidori. Kakashi punched his way out of the earth. He turned to see his student, the last Uchiha, claw his way out of the landslide that the Suna Genin had left them in. He was happy with the boy's development. His speed and reflexes were close to Gai's pupil, though this was achieved with Chakra rather than strict physical training. And by teaching him the Chidori, Kakashi believed he had provided a preferable alternatve to the Curse Mark. As he listened out for watchers or enemies, the Copy-nin heard the boy rasp something that made his blood run cold. "Thankyou for the lesson….. Uzumaki-sensei."

'Sasuke-kun doesn't use honorifics! In the time we have worked together, that brat hasn't even referred to my position! What could Uzumaki-kun have taught Saksuke-kun?'

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Kankuro gripped the railing and felt worry building within him. The match with the Uchiha was part of the Invasion Plan and without him….. He turned to the red-haired ninja that he feared above all others. 'Could he have done this? He knows how important this is, could he have really just completely ignore the Mission just so he could kill?' He looked over at their team leader and he could tell that Baki-sensei was thinking the same thing.

Baki took a look across to the other side of the stadium and saw that the Kazekage had fully turned to face the Sandaime. 'Focusing all of his attention like that, he must be looking for some answers or some way to play for time. Damn that snake Orochimaru. His desire for that Uchiha boy for his experiments may well be the downfall of this Invasion!' Smoke appeared on the arena floor and two figures walked out of the haze. 'Finally… wait. Who are they?'

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In the deep blackness of oblivion, a girl all in pink swam unconsciously through the nothingness. Time was as nothing as the pink female appeared to either not care or not understand where she was. Suddenly, a jolt pulled from her blank state and colour appeared in her vision again. She saw bubbling yellow in front of her and it burned. She closed her eyes again tightly and tried to return to the nothingness but a voice screamed at her. "Shannaro! What the heel were you thinking you fool! Stop ignoring this and do something!" Sakura recognised the voice as much like her own and a figure almost exactly like her but lacking in colour, a black and white imitation. Uchi Naru Sakura. Though her parents were civilians and their parents, the young Kunoichi of Konoha could only deduce that she had some ancestor who was a Ninja with a Kekkei Genkai of some sort. Uchi Naru Sakura voiced her innermost thoughts and egged her on in certain endeavours. Her biggest piece of evidence though was from her fight with Ino-pig. Uchi Naru Sakura had pushed her out of her mind when she had tried to take possession of Sakura's body. Now, while she had shut herself away from the pain of drowning in the Toad Sages' Oil, Uchi Naru Sakura had taken over the body in her absence. No. Before she had shut her eyes again she had seen her arm and it was black and white like…. "Yuh-huh! I changed form and now you need to take over. We're at the bottom so if you walk us to a wall in your form we can swap places and allow each of our bodies to recover. The Oil is forcing Nature Chakra into us so we can use that to- "She was cut off by a hand around her throat.

"Baka. I have a better idea. Your way we leave none the worse off, except my unwanted tenant can take over when she pleases. Instead, I think I'll wear your skin for my escape and store the new Chakra inside me instead of you. I'll replace your sorry ass for Chakra reserves greater than that senile pervert up there!" Reopening her eyes, she checked that Uchi Naru Sakura's skin was still covering her own. She started to half wade half walk through the Oil until she reached the side. Then, using Kakashi's training, she started to walk up the side. The monochromatic skin started to crack and peel, Sakura felt the burn but kept going. In her mind she heard Uchi Naru Sakura whimper in pain, her throat having become too raw to continue screaming. 'Don't be like that, look at the positives; I will still be alive and with your sacrifice I'll be stronger than ever and Sasuke-kun will have to notice me. '

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Jiraiya collapsed in front of the Oil Fountain, his body exhausted from weeks of running. As Gamabunta leapt into the clearing and moved in for the kill he mused that it was a funny little circle of fate in that he should meet his end in the Mountains where he had learned he would Apprentice the Saviour. The Fountain exploded just as the giant toad's sword came down. Jiraiya looked up to see a stone toad, the size of a man and wearing a red qipao dress, blocking the sword. The stone toad leapt forward and landed a kick on Gamabunta's face. The large toad was sent an incredible distance into the air. The stone toad landed and started forming a series of hand seals he didn't recognise. "Doton: Otamajakushi no Dangan!" As the stone toad pushed their hands out, holes opened in the palms and a mass of tadpoles made of stone burst forth and drove straight into Gamabunta, sending him further and further away. The stone tad turned and walked over to the Toad Sannin and knelt down next to him. "How was that Sensei?"

"S-s-Sakura-chan?"

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In the centre of the arena stood the Toad Sannin with his apprentice. Sakura was wearing a pink sleeveless kimono-style blouse with a red obi sash and red three-quarter length trousers. Along with this she was wearing geta sandals like her Sensei's. They walked over to the steps and found some seats, ignoring the stares and questioning until finally the crowds returned to demanding that the next fight get underway. Sakura began to look agitated. "Where's Sasuke-kun?"

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The scarred ninja appeared next to Genma the Proctor and after a small conversation the Proctor stepped forward and raised his voice to the audience. "Ladies and Gentleman! Due to an unforeseen delay in the arrival of one of the combatants we are going to move onto the next battle!" All around the stadium, Genma noticed mixed reactions. Some looked pleased that something was coming while others looked put out. 'Likely some are just here to see how the Last Uchiha performs. Bunch of pompous money grabbers!' He cleared his throat and returned to the announcement. "Aburame Shino v.s. Subaku no Kankuro! Will the combatants please come on down!"

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"Shoot." Kankuro looked out at the arena floor and then at the puppet strapped to his back. 'My match doesn't really matter. That shady guy looks easy enough but after what he did the other guy he faced I don't wanna risk damaging Karasu so soon before the Invasion. Damn, I don't like backing out of an easy fight like this…..' He raised his hand into the air and shouted down to the Proctor. "I forfeit!"

On the other side of the stadium, Naruto and Shikamaru watched as Shino's clothes rustled with activity and the noise of clicking and screeching could be heard. Both were put in mind of a beehive after poking it with a stick. They couldn't read Shino very well but if they could hazard a guess, they were both in agreement that Aburame Shino looked like he was ready to blow a gasket.

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'We need to play for time. If the plan is to wait till this Uchiha kid shows up then I better make this look good.' Temari unhooked her War Fan and with a great swing she surrounded herself with a great gust of wind. As it settled she disappeared, only to jump out of the tornado that had started right next to the Proctor. She walked out and waited for her opponent to come down.

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"Good luck Shikamaru! You better make it to the next round!" He gave a big grin as his Nara made his way down to the arena without any prompting. 'My Nara? When did Shika become my Nara?' Naruto scrunched his face in thought as he considered the day they had ramen and the way Shika had blushed after Naruto had thrown Gaara out the window. Then he remembered what he had heard earlier; Shikamaru had threatened to kill Neji if he ever hurt Naruto. 'I've never heard Shika sound so…..serious before. It was like he considered Naruto to be a 'special person' like Haku had described his reason for serving Zabuza. 'Does Shika think of me as his special person? He seems so different right now, like he wants to prove himself. He didn't even complain about facing off with a girl either…'

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"Hey! Hurry up and get on with this crappy fight!" There were other shouts that followed basically the same theme being hurled out as Shikamaru made his way down the steps and onto the arena floor.

He sighed. "Everyone is so eager to see Uchiha fight. They're probably annoyed that after that long-ass intermission they're being forced to watch a pathetic excuse of a match between two side acts, wouldn't you say Proctor?" Genma could only nod, agreeing with the pineapple-headed Genin's summation of current events. The blond Kunoichi on the other hand wasn't quite so agreeable.

"You bastard! Don't stick me with the same label as you!" She rushed forward and leapt into the air, swinging her War Fan in a huge, viscous arc. A huge gust surged toward Shikamaru, who ducked out of the way to avoid being hit. Two more gusts came, from opposite directions and as Shikamaru tried to decipher a way out of it…

"Zankuha!" Another blast from another direction struck the gust and dispelled them. The Proctor and the two Genin turned toward the approaching figure. The figure was holding a strange pipe in his left hand and as he approached he lifted his voice. "Sorry I'm late, but I was meeting a teammate whilst he was convalescing and lost track of time."

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Up in the stands, Gaara showed a rare display of emotion. Shock. Team leader Baki was also shocked as he looked at the approaching figure. "Gaara…. I thought you…."

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"Kinuta Dosu, reporting for duty."


	14. Chapter 14

Naruto is a manga series by Masashi Kishimoto published by Shueisha in Japan's Shonen Jump and VIZ Media in the American Shonen Jump. The anime series is produced by Studio Pierrot and Aniplex for TV Tokyo and Animax with VIZ Media having gone through multiple networks over the years. I don't own the series, I make no money out of doing this. Please support the official release.

Alright guys, another day, another Slug and Dosu's alive! Did anyone see that coming? Huh? Did ya? You did? Well, I don't believe you. :P

On another note, last chapter I asked you guys if you wanted me to do a separate fanfic that was like this one, except the main story's threesome would be two guys and a girl instead of three guys. This was in response to people complaining about the slash romance planned for this story. And the response was… no. So if you complain about it any further then all I can say is; you had your chance so blow it shut up and GTFO. :P

Chapter Fourteen: Alive! The Melody Continues!

On the night of a full moon in Konohagakure, during the month allotted for training before the final round of the Chunin Exams, the youngest child of the Kazekage of Sunagakure sat on the roof of a tall and elegant building. He stared up at the bright orb in the night sky and felt Shukaku's blood lust rise up within him. He had chosen the roof because it separated him from the rest. He knew he would have killed the one who claimed the title of Team Leader and the two who called themselves his siblings if he had been near them on that night, a night when Shukaku's blood lust could overpower his self-control. He started to wonder what sleep felf like when he sensed the approach of another. The figure's face was almost completely covered in bandages and he wore a Hitai-ate that indicated him as one of Orochimaru's ninja. He couldn't remember his name, only that he had been the one who beat the roly-poly blob Genin. 'A mistake on your part snakeling, Shukaku is hungry and you're here.'

"You sure got me," Kinuta Dosu, leader of Otogakure's premier Genin Squad, Team Dosu, called out to the Suna Genin. "I guess you really don't sleep. That's a shame for you then; I was going to get you quiet-like while you slept. Now, we'll have to fight. Right here, right now. And my chances of facing the Uchiha boy will get ever higher." He pulled his sleeve back to reveal the Melody Arm. "I know about your Sand Armour Suna-kun, how about we see how it holds up against my Kyomeisen." Dosu was sure of himself. He had made it to the final round, he was the team leader and he was the smart. The sound from his Melody Arm could make it through whatever thickness the sand could offer and rattle the bones of the boy inside. He had tools, kunai, throwing stars and exploding tags. If push came to shove then he always had…. 'Is he laughing? That Suna freak is actually laughing!'

Gaara stood and looked down at the Oto-nin. "Foolish. 'He' gets thirsty during the full moon." Gaara's eyes closed and everything seemed to disappear into blackness. For a moment he felt calm, relaxed. 'Is this what sleep feels like?' He wondered. It didn't last. Soon his body was surrounded in pain, he felt like he was being eaten by millions and billions of little ants. Shukaku was devouring him again, just like every other time he had tried to sleep or let Shukaku take over. He pulled himself out of his rest and forced his eyes to open, to wake up. He woke to see three hideous rips across the roof. Like a gigantic animal had scratched into it. In the midst of this was a blood-stained corpse. 'Shukaku has fed then.' With that, he turned away and left, having no further interest in the site.

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On a separate rooftop, Kinuta Dosu watched the red-haired ninja leave. He turned his attention back to stitching the cut across his chest. He knew it was more luck than skill that had saved him. The straw raincoat he wore was a rare artefact from Kusagakure that he had taken for himself during a mission. The Wara Shroud allowed him to manipulate straw for a number of uses. In this case he had created a straw dummy and had it filled with a number of blood packs that he kept for just such an occasion. The dummy didn't move, talk or attack like a Kage Bunshin could but it didn't disappear after either. With this, the higher-ups would think he was dead. This gave him the perfect chance undercover reconnaissance. 'Orochimaru set us up. My Team were gonna be lambs to the slaughter for his experiments with the Uchiha. Way it is now, I have three options; One, finish the mission I was given and kill Uchiha. Two, let everyone think I'm dead and run. Three, kill Orochimaru-sensei. If I kill Uchiha, Orochimaru will either kill me or reward me. My money's on kill. If I run, Kin and Zaku will be killed since they probably still think Orochimaru was only testing us. Killing Orochimaru-sensei probably has the best payout but if I can't beat that Suna Brat, then what chance do I have against my own sensei?' His thoughts are disturbed when he realises he's not alone on the roof. He sees an old man covered in badages.

"That was an impressive move there Oto-nin, Kinuta Dosu," said Shimura Danzo. "Perhaps we can go downstairs for some tea and we can talk about Village allegiances."

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Dosu watched the first fight of the final round from a concealed spot, deciding to keep his distance from the red-headed Suna-nin. He was dismayed by the Uchiha brat's non-attendance, but that was another matter. For now, he decided to map out the battle capabilities of his future opponents. Uzumaki was clearly a master of his stealth, indicated by how cleanly, quickly and quietly he had tunnelled through the ground. Dosu knew servants of Orochimaru who could turn into giant moles that were messier. He was also an intuitive fighter with ridiculously efficient regenerative powers and a gruesome long range attack. 'That guy will have to fight Uchiha or Gaara before getting to me, I should be safe then. As for my side of the exams….. that Aburame guy is someone I'd want to keep my distance from, after what he did to Zaku. The Nara seemed unmotivated in his fight with Kin but he's obviously capable and powerful. He's probably more of a tactician than a fighter, like me. Given the time, by the time we get to our fight, most of the arena will be shadow and I'll have nowhere to run. Then there's Gaara's brother and sister. She seems reliant on her fan, a long range fighter with a Wind Nature. Zankuha should dispel any wind attacks, then I should get close and separate her from the fan. The guy is a Puppet-user and doubtless he's able to use it for a lot more things than simple substitution. Probably holding back. Still, the puppet's made of hollow wood and sound can still break it, or try to get past it and hit the Puppet-Master.'

He watched as a scarred ninja, that Danzo-sensei had identified as Namiashi Raido, appeared next to the Proctor and after a small conversation the Proctor stepped forward and raised his voice to the audience. "Ladies and Gentleman! Due to an unforeseen delay in the arrival of one of the combatants we are going to move onto the next battle!" Dosu squinted his eye in annoyance. He had hoped to see his once-target in combat again but it seemed he had either run off or been taken care of prior to the match. But for it to be delayed rather than disqualify Uchiha….. Likely there were some higher-ups with deep pockets that wanted Uchiha to fight whenever he got here, to see how the Last Uchiha performs. The Proctor wasn't finished. "Aburame Shino v.s. Subaku no Kankuro! Will the combatants please come on down!"

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"Shoot." Kankuro looked out at the arena floor and then at the puppet strapped to his back. 'My match doesn't really matter. That shady guy looks easy enough but after what he did the other guy he faced I don't wanna risk damaging Karasu so soon before the Invasion. Damn, I don't like backing out of an easy fight like this…..' He raised his hand into the air and shouted down to the Proctor. "I forfeit!"

In another side of the stadium, Kinuta Dosu watched as the Aburame Genin's clothes rustled with activity and the noise of clicking and screeching could be heard. Like a beehive that had just been poked with a stick. Dosu remembered once when Kin had used her senbon to knock a beehive on one the Sound Five's heads. It was the eight-limbed Kidomaru, if he remembered correctly. It was hilarious until the spidery ninja started eating the bees. He couldn't read the Aburame from such a distance but at a guess, he was almost certain that Aburame Shino looked like he was ready to blow a gasket.

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'We need to play for time. If the plan is to wait till this Uchiha kid shows up then I better make this look good.' Temari unhooked her War Fan and with a great swing she surrounded herself with a great gust of wind. As it settled she disappeared, only to jump out of the tornado that had started right next to the Proctor. She walked out and waited for her opponent to come down.

'A powerful gust that masks high speed movement, making it look like teleportation. Rather flashy really, not very in keeping with the image she was presenting. She's playing for time.' Surmised Dosu. 'They must be waiting for Uchiha to show up before they attack. And yet for the Puppet-user to forfeit, to conceal his full capabilities…. They're waiting for Uchiha to show up.' He shifted his weight and considered his next step, entering the public view. 'Obviously I could just drop down now and begin with Nara, but then I'll have to face the Suna-nin. If I wait for them to start then I have a chance of seeing her in action but I could risk disqualification….'

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"Hey! Hurry up and get on with this crappy fight!" There were other shouts that followed basically the same theme being hurled out as Shikamaru made his way down the steps and onto the arena floor.

He sighed. "Everyone is so eager to see Uchiha fight. They're probably annoyed that after that long-ass intermission they're being forced to watch a pathetic excuse of a match between two side acts, wouldn't you say Proctor?" Genma could only nod, agreeing with the pineapple-headed Genin's summation of current events. From his hidden spot, Dosu also nodded in agreement. As he did so, he saw the blond Kunoichi ruash forward and a third option for this fight came to him.

"You bastard! Don't stick me with the same label as you!" She leapt into the air, swinging her War Fan in a huge, viscous arc. A huge gust surged toward Shikamaru, who ducked out of the way to avoid being hit. Two more gusts came, from opposite directions and as Shikamaru tried to decipher a way out of it…

"Zankuha!" Another blast from another direction struck the gust and dispelled them. The Proctor and the two Genin turned toward the approaching figure. The figure was holding a strange pipe in his left hand and as he approached he lifted his voice. "Sorry I'm late, but I was meeting a teammate whilst he was convalescing and lost track of time."

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Up in the stands, Gaara showed a rare display of emotion. Shock. Team leader Baki was also shocked as he looked at the approaching figure. "Gaara…. I thought you…."

NSN

"Kinuta Dosu, reporting for duty." He stood at full height, his hunching would have made his entrance rather anti-climactic. He had also updated his wardrobe. He still had his Otogakure standard issue boots, snake-patterned scarf and trousers with the Wara Shroud. However, he was now wearing a short-sleeve black jacket that was open and stopped above his midriff. His scar from Shukaku's attack was very visible, as was his previously hidden weapon, the Melody Arm. He held the long, chakra-enriched pipe in his left hand and slid it into a holster on his boot. There was another change he had made that the others were staring at intently. His Hitai-ate. "Kinuta Dosu, leader of Team Dosu, formerly of Kusagakure, formerly of Otogakure, currently a Konohagakure Genin, ready to fight sir." He gave a small bow to the Proctor. The Suna Kunoichi was having none of it.

"He's late for his match with the Pineapple-head, he's forfeited his match by default. Now get him off the field or I'll-ugh!" Her speech was cut off as Dosu, channeling air out of the pipe, rocketed towards her and punched her in the stomach with his Melody Arm. He activated his Kyomeisen and punched again. She fell back a short distance, clutching her stomach until she started retching, throwing up in the middle of the arena.

Dosu turned to the Proctor. "It was supposed to be a one-on-one between the Nara and myself and the young girl over there attacked my opponent before you gave the mark. I could petition for her disqualification," he noticed a horrified look on her face between bouts of retching on the floor, "however, I actually think we should continue the fight with all three of us. It ought to make up for certain matches being skipped over." He made it sound as logical as he could and beneath his wraps he smiled as the Proctor nodded in agreement.

The Proctor raised his voice again to the audience. "Ladies and Gentleman! This Match will be a Three-Way-Battle! Nara Shikamaru of Konoha! Versus Subaku no Temari of Suna! Versus Kinuta Dosu of Konoha! If the combatants are ready?" Temari pulled herself off the ground and nodded. "Then, BEGIN!"

NSN

In the audience, Baki gripped the railing tightly. One of Orochimaru's men had switched sides? How much did he know of the Invasion? "It is of no concern Baki." He turned to face Gaara. "He was one of Orochimaru's crash-test dummies for whatever he did to Uchiha Sasuke. He was never part of the Invasion Plan." Baki sighed in relief and returned his attention to the fight.

NSN

Underneath his disguise, Orochimaru felt a knot of rage tighten in his stomach. That one of his experiments didn't have the good grace to die when he was no longer needed was something he hated, and worse still that disobedient whelp had joined up with Konoha as well. 'You shall pay for your insolence Dosu-kun. With your life.'

Sat beside him, Sarutobi Hiruzen smiled and had an extra-long puff of his pipe. The Kinuta boy had been a tough egg to crack but after much negotiation, he had agreed to help them. His knowledge of all the faces of Otogakure's Elite and his talent for sketching meant that all the Jonin and ANBU had pictures identifying all the lead combatants in the service of Orochimaru. Forces had been scattered to watch over them, ready to attack at any moment. The Suna Forces were still unknown but it still meant that the Invasion Force's overall efficiency had been more or less cut in half. 'Excellently done old friend. I hope Orochimaru likes your next surprise, Danzo.'

NSN

Temari launched another massive wind strike at her opponents and both jumped away. 'Heh, these Leaf Rats are good at running away then?'

Shikamaru peered out from behind a tree and watched the kunoichi work while trying to analyse the recent developments. 'I'm not going to lose this fight, but now it's two at once? Besides, a guy can't just go around and hit a girl so…'

From the balcony; with a voice that disturbed the wildlife in Nami no Kuni, such was the volume it was at that time Ino yelled, "BUST HER UP! SHIKAMARU! GET HER WITH A SIXTEEN HIT COMBO! YEAH!" Ino punched the air and Shikamaru sighed, feeling tired out just from the force of her… resonating voice.

On the other side of the arena, hidden behind a tree, Dosu shook his head in an attempt to stop his ears ringing. 'If that kind of voice is hereditary, she would be ideal as the first Oto-nin to wield a related Kekkei Genkai.' He returned to analysing his match. His attack on the Kunoichi told him her skills were more in the long-ranged field of fighting but she wasn't without some skill. She had tensed at the right time and would likely have been able to counter his attack had it not been for the sound penetrating her. He also knew that she would keep her distance from him and would probably target him first. Her first mistake. At this time of the day, Nara would be the ideal first target. His shadows won't reach far, so he's the most vulnerable.

Temari spotted Shikamaru in the patch of trees to her left. 'Let's see, he's a ninja that uses shadows, so he'll obviously try to lure me into the shade. Like I'll fall for that! That other one uses sound waves and he has that pole that can fire airwaves. Like my war fan but a great deal more suited to stealthy, specially aimed attacks. I can't see him but I can't let him get too close. Heh, I was going to make this flashy to play for time, but it looks like this match will take a while without any grandstanding.'

NSN

Ino felt her jaw drop when she saw Choji pull out yet another bag of crisps. "Is your stomach really fully recovered Choji?" Choji chose to ignore the question.

"Isn't Uchiha supposed to be fighting now?" He noticed a vein on Ino's temple that was quivering and steadily getting more pronounced. 'Best change the subject from that skinny mute…' mused the next head of the Akimichi Clan. "Hmmm, for Shikamaru to be in the Finals…. It seems really out of place for him, don't you think?"

Ino considered what Choji was saying. "You were given time off training so you could recover Choji, so you haven't seen it. But Lately Shikamaru has been training properly and while he can't breathe fire or make solid clones, he's really good at devising strategies. Like when he co-ordinated some of our missions instead of Asuma-sensei? And I don't think we'd have made it as far as we did in these exams if it hadn't been for him. He walked down there and he wasn't pushed and he didn't whine or anything. He seems like he's really revved up for this." She again burst from her seat and her words woke the Kumogakure Jinchukiri Killer Bee from his dreams of rapping with the stars. "GO SHIKAMARU!"

NSN

Shikamaru moved to another tree to get a view of the arena, looking for some clue as to how he might be able to beat two Ninja that clearly approach fights the way he does. It was as it had been at the end of the match between Neji and … Naruto. He looked up at Naruto, who was cheering him on loudly and with a smile on his face. And then he looked at the arena ground. 'That's right… he went and….. and then he… that…. that should work.' He stepped down from the tree and turned slightly, entering Temari's field of vision with a large, knowing smile on his face.

Temari scowled. 'What is doing with that dumb expression on his face? Is he making fun of me?' She pulled her War Fan back. "Kamaitachi no Jutsu!" A powerful gust rolled out of her. Up in the crowd Tenten gasped at the attack that had banished all of her weapons as it tore into the trees that Shikamaru was standing by.

Dosu watched from his hiding space. He looked over to where Nara had been looking, hoping to discern his opponent's plan. 'Wait…. that's…. oh, that is clever. That is very clever. And I know just how to beat it. But let's see him do it to her, thin the competition for me.' Dosu rushed forward and launched his Zankuha at the blonde Kunoichi, forcing her to leap and launch her Kamaitachi at him. Her attack overpowered his and he pulled back, hiding away again.

As she landed and the dust cleared, Temari saw a thin black mass rush toward her. 'A shadow!' She leapt back, again and again. As she did so, 'It's…. it's starting to shrink!'She finally stopped and scored a line across the ground in front of her. "Ha! I have seen through your Kagemane no Jutsu!" She saw a tired look on his face, along with a long cut across his cheek. "There's a limit to how much you can stretch and shape your shadow isn't there? You can't stretch it any further than the original surface area of the shadow, am I right?" He nodded. 'Which would mean…. Judging by the distance from where he attacked from his shadow; from the furthest point the shadow from the stadium wall stretched…. Taking into account the possibility of him using the stadium's shadow as his own….. there!' She scored another line into the ground, a more solid one this time. 'The absolute limit of his shadow from him his fifteen metres and thirty-two centimetres.'

Shikamaru knelt down against the wall and closed his eyes. He then formed his hands into a shape with his fingers and thumbs touching their counterpart with his thumbs the closest to his head.

NSN

Yuuhi Kurenai, Genjutsu Mistress of Konoha turned to Sarutobi Asuma, Shikamaru's Jonin Instructor, "What sort of Hand Seal is that? I've never seen anything like it." Asuma chuckled and had to catch his cigarette as it fell from his lips.

"That's no seal."


	15. Chapter 15

Naruto is a manga series by Masashi Kishimoto published by Shueisha in Japan's Shonen Jump and VIZ Media in the American Shonen Jump. The anime series is produced by Studio Pierrot and Aniplex for TV Tokyo and Animax with VIZ Media having gone through multiple networks over the years. I don't own the series, I make no money out of doing this. Please support the official release.

How's it sliming guys? Another chapter of Slug and the battle reaches its climax! Who will win?

Chapter Fifteen: The Sound of Defeat! The Shadow of Death! The… Windy Weasel?

Yuuhi Kurenai turned to her…. colleague and fellow Team Leader Sarutobi Asuma. 'Not a Hand Seal? But he has his hands in a strange formation and he's obviously concentrating….'

Asuma grinned and lit another cigarette. "It's a habit of his; he's the kind of person who likes to slowly take his time. He's like one of those old geezers. That's why he plays games like Shogi and Go. I've been playing against him since he became my student and this is what he always does when he's backed into a corner." He turned to see a confused look on Kurenai's face and started to chuckle, causing his thick sideburns to bristle with movement. "It's a sign that he's working on a strategy…. as such, I have never won a match against him." Understanding began to dawn on her. "Not even once." He watched the Genjutsu Mistress' eyes squint with annoyance.

"You're speaking of strategies and games Asuma. This is a real fight Asuma, not another boardgame." Asuma swiped his hand dismissively.

"Those games are said to have roots as devices for tacticians to plot their wars with. You could say that Shikamaru is a shrewd tactician." Kurenai shook her head at Asuma's words.

"Shrewd? I've saw his grades from the Academy when they were getting sorted into teams, he was supposed to be at the same level as Naruto!"

"And you just saw Naruto beat a Taijutsu Genius who graduated at the top of his class." Asuma took a long drag of his cigarette and let the smoke linger in his mouth a while longer before letting it sift out slowly. "He said it was too much of a hassle to move the pencil, it seems he slept through his written exams. I then got the idea he had a talent for strategy despite his grades, so I had him take an IQ test disguised as a game. I wasn't being all that serious but…." Kurenai moved closer, motioning for him to continue. "A true 'Diamond in the Rough.' He's a super genius Kurenai, with an IQ over two hundred!"

Kurenai felt a cold chill go down her spine. 'Over two hundred!'

"Looks like he's done planning."

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"Looks like you're finally going to be serious!" The Suna Kunoichi pulled her War Fan back. "Kamaitachi no Jutsu!" The flurry of wind shuriken surged toward Shikamaru. The younf Nara pulled out a kunai and jumped behind a tree. "There's no escape!" The attack tore into the small group of trees, furiously ripping into the wood and leaves. As the Suna Kunoichi kept firing off the attack, Shikamaru carefully removed his coat while avoiding leaving his arms out of the safety of the tree. "How long are you going to hide in there? Give up already!" She felt herself losing her temper.

NSN

"Does he really have some sort of strategy?" Kurenai turned to Asuma with a rather mocking look.

Asuma looked confused, like he couldn't understand what was going on. "P-probably…. He's supposed to."

Ino stood up again and started to yell loudly, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING SHIKAMARU? YOU'RE NEVER GOING TO GET AT HER IF YOU STAY THERE LIKE THAT!" While she had hoped her tirade would motivate her teammate to do something, it did have a beneficial outcome. Kinuta Dosu, with his sensitive hearing, fell from his hiding spot and Temari focused her attack on him instead.

NSN

Dosu fired a Zankuha to dispel the Kamaitachi and ran for the nearby rock, only for a kunai to appear in front of it and explode. He turned and realised it could only have come from the forest as a Kamaitachi came straight at him. 'Damn that Nara creep, he must still be sore about what I did to the fatso…. I can't dodge the blonde bitch's attack, I'll have to...' The attack hit and he exploded into a mass of straw. It glided through the Kamaitachi and circled round Temari. Finally, Dosu emerged and punched at her with the Melody Arm. She barely managed to block with the War Fan, momentarily letting go to avoid the Kyomeisen. Nevertheless, the Kunoichi was not unarmed, she quickly grabbed a kunai from her pouch and threw it. Dosu fell backwards and Temari retrieved her War Fan. With all the force she could muster she brought the War Fan down on the former Oto-nin's head. Dosu went down and she turned her attention back to the Nara when a kunai flew towards her. And his shadow.

'Damn, I moved into close!' Quickly she ran for the marker and opened up her War Fan to block the kunai. From the safety of the line she took a defensive stance and knocked away the kunai. The Nara's shadow reached the line….. and kept going. 'Shit!' Temari jumped back further to avoid the black tendril and stared at the smirking pineapple-head. "So that's what you were doing? Wiling away the time until the sun dropped lower…. So the shadows of the wall and yourself would grow larger." She felt like sneering. 'Judging from the height of the sun this is the furthest he can reach…. I'll stand here and taunt him. He'll push himself to reach me and that'll leave him exposed.' She puffed up her chest with pride and faced the crowd with a smug look.

Kankuro screamed out to his sister. "Temari! MOVE!" A mass of shadow appeared at her feet and joined with the shadow. It grew larger and larger until it surged toward her. She tried to dodge but it simply followed. He tendril swerved and weaved around her, trying to reach her. She looked up and saw the source of the extra shadow. His coat. Shikamaru had tied his coat and Hitai-ate together to create a makeshift parachute, using a kunai as a counter-weight.

'Damn!' She thought. 'He distracted me with his shadow attack so that I wouldn't notice what was going on above me then, when I finally see it, he attacks me from below. If I keep dodging like this, he'll just keep me moving till the shadows get large enough to totally reach me.' She took hold of her War Fan and used it to send herself to the other side of the arena, out of reach of the shadow. She then directed an attack at the parachute. With it down, his attack reach was crippled. With little to fear she walked back towards her opponent and passed the section of the area where the previous match had been particularly brutal. She smirked at her opponent.

Shikamaru's face became stern. "For you to evade that attack….."

NSN

In the audience, Kurenai was impressed with the performance of both ninja. She gave Asuma a sympathetic look. "Seems his plan wasn't good enough." Asuma nodded.

"Indeed," he nodded. "His opponent is pretty bright herself…. She thinks ahead."

NSN

In another section of the stadium, Tenten watched with clenched teeth as the Kunoichi that had nearly snapped her spine defeat Shikamaru's attack. "Damn, she's really strong. Father, what do you think Shikamaru's next move is?" She turned to find her father no longer sitting next to her. "Father?"

NSN

The white-haired author of the Icha Icha Novels was trying desperately to watch the fight while trying to screen out his pinkette student's ramblings about Uchiha Sasuke. In one sense it had brought a feeling of nostalgia, reminding him of when Tsunade-hime had praised Orochimaru. "Jiraiya?" A voice called him and he turned to face them. A green one-piece jumpsuit, orange leg warmers, a green bomber jacket, a long mullet of brown hair and eyes almost permenantly squinting.

"Is….. is that you Katanakaji-kun?" Jiraiya smiled, it was his pupil and one of Minato's closest friends, Katanakaji. "I almost didn't realise it was you, you were so quiet just then." He stood to look at his old student face-to-face but when he got stood, a hand settled on his shoulder and pushed down. Hard. So hard he went through his chair and ended up sitting on the floor amongst the wreckage of the seat.

"While you were away Naruto, the Slug Prince of Konoha, became my pupil, became Employee of the Month at the Medical Centre and defeated Hyuga Neji. We are going to talk more about this Jiraiya. Soon. I suggest you make sure you get your affairs in order." With that he walked away.

Jiraiya remained on the floor while Sakura, who had heard what Katanakaji had said, started on a rant about the many times Naruto has insulted her or interfered in her relationship with Sasuke. 'I get the feeling I have made a serious mistake.' He mused to himself.

NSN

Temari looked up at the sun. 'If I keep this up, his shadow will keep growing and he'll keep expanding his reach, I need to end this now!' With that she planted her War Fan into the ground and hid behind it. 'First I'll create a Kage Bunshin and send it out to distract him, then I'll push as much Chakra as I can muster into a super-powered Kamaitachi. Right now his shadow is…' She saw a tendril reach out and used a hole in the ground as a marker to estimate its maximum reach. 'Good.' She formed the Hand Seal. 'Time to begin the plan, Kage Bunshin no-' Her whole body froze up. 'What the…? My body is?' She stood up and saw her opponent doing the same.

Shikamaru smiled, "Finally, Kagemane no Jutsu. Success." He allowed his eyes to drift slightly to the audience and saw Choji spluttering half-chewed crisps everywhere, Ino was cheering and jumping about too much to notice. The other Suna-nin were both looking very confused. Naruto looked…. really happy. 'Naruto, please acknowledge the progress I've made thanks to you.' Then he saw HIM. And HE was approaching Naruto! Shikamaru turned away and tried to stay focused as he made Temari turn to look behind her. "To answer your question, I can reach you because of what's behind you. Remember? Naruto dug a tunnel to ambush Hyuuga in the last match? That hole behind you is connected to large hole here in front of you."

"No way…. a shadow in the tunnel?"

"Exactly."

NSN

"Hey Neji, should you really be up and about now? I hit you pretty hard and that Seal Removal still needs time to settle." Naruto looked at the Juken Prodigy curiously. Neji came to stand at the balcony next to the blond Genin.

"I could say something similar to you Naruto. The Proctor was near to pronouncing you dead not too long ago." Neji turned himself away at this point. 'Fool! Why remind him of that? He has given me an incredible thing and I remind him of that? Fool!' He felt a hand touch his shoulder and was pulled back around to face Naruto.

"Stop moping Neji, I'm still in one piece and I would never want someone to hold back in a fight. Otherwise, how can you know you've really beaten an opponent?" He said this with a grin and Neji nodded in agreement.

"Yosh! Wise words young Naruto! To unlock true strength, one must let the Fires of Youth burn bright on the battlefield!" Might Guy stood behind them with Lee beside him. Lee seemed embarrassed, standing amongst the ninja in crutches but he breathed out and stood as resolutely as he could. Guy turned to Neji. "Neji, I shall allow you time to recover from the match and the seal removal but afterwards we're going to run punishment drills for your Unyouthful actions and then we can move onto some new training. I recently ran into my old Sensei and so I can now train you a special Jutsu that should prove invaluable." He gave a thumbs up and his teeth glinted in the sun.

Neji could see that his Sensei knew he regretted his actions and so he wasn't as angry as he could have been. They all turned to watch the rest of the fight and Naruto wrapped an arm around Neji to pull up to cheer Neji on until Neji started to join in on the cheering, the blonde's enthusiasm proving contagious.

NSN

Asuma smiled at his student's clever ruse. 'He kept attacking with his shadow to direct her towards that tunnel, like herding the Nara deer. He was so much more active in this battle and so plainly obvious that the Kunoichi never took into account the idea of their being hidden shadows. Clever, Shikamaru. You planned so many moves ahead, like in a game of Shogi. There's no way for her to escape. It's Checkmate!'

NSN

Temari gritted her teeth. 'This guy…. that trick he pulled with his shirt was just to move me to here, he forced Dosu out into a fight with me for the same reason and to make me take care of him while he maintained his position. All of his moves so far…. I thought they were desperate attacks but…. all diversions!' She felt herself being pulled forward, being forced to walk until she was face to face with the tactician who dwarfed her own strategic skills. "You can't make me quit just by trapping me like this so you better have something else brat!" She said with what little bravado she had left. 'Think! Temari, think! There's got to be a way out of this.'

NSN

The crowds were cheering now; though the match-up had seemed totally tame to everyone at first, the recent upset had drastically changed their opinion. It wasn't flashy or bizarre; it was simply one of the best tactical battles they'd seen. The older members of the audience started to chatter about how they'd done something similar in a game of Shogi. Asuma started to clap his hands in approval. Choji had begun to tear through his snacks at an incredible pace, the exhilaration of the battle whetting his appetite. When suddenly….

NSN

From the corner of his eye Shikamaru saw Naruto's arm around Neji's and it tore at his concentration. He felt he HAD to see this properly, that if he did so it wouldn't be true. And the Kagemane fell apart.

'An opening!' Temari felt her body relax and aimed a solid kick into the Nara's face. He rolled with the kick and spun to deliver his own. It landed with a meaty thwack and she felt her shoulder pop out of place. She dove for her fan and dragged as much Chakra as possible out of herself and hurriedly crammed it into her War Fan. 'Do it now! Do it quick before he has the chance to relaunch his Kagemane. From this close proximity, he'll be worse off than that Kunoich from before!' She turned and swung but stopped dead. The words didn't come out. They couldn't come out. She felt a strong grip around her neck and it pressed harder. She let out a soft whimper as she saw Shikamaru standing a few feet from her. 'If-if he's there then what's….'

"Kage-Kubishibari no Jutsu!" Shikamaru called out as he tightened his shadows around her neck. He saw her try to reach for her neck and find nothing to grab hold of. He started to walk over and felt the shadows strengthen with each step. Soon she lost the energy to scrabble at her neck, then her legs gave in. He knelt next to her. "Be thankful I'm not the kind of ninja who likes to break the backs of a defeated opponent, because I don't think you've got a Bushy-Browed Teammate who would come to your rescue." Finally she passed out and the stench of urine filled the young Nara's nostrils. He turned away and called away his shadows.

The Proctor stepped forward to announce the winner when suddenly. "Zankuha!" A blast of decapitating airwaves tore apart the tunnel and the area that Shikamaru was standing. Pieces of straw in the air and on the ground started to twitch and move. They swirled and charged towards Shikamaru, who could do nothing but run. Finally, the straw stopped and formed a mass just above the unconscious 'Dosu'. Another Dosu appeared and landed next to the one on the ground. Only he wasn't wearing the Melody Arm. "Not bad eh? Bet you didn't see that coming Mister Tactician!" He crouched down to pick up the Melody Arm and put it back on. "My Melody Arm uses 'Deadman's Auto-pilot' device built into it. It continues to attack and move the body to attack until it's destroyed. I attached it to this Straw Dummy and hid in the straw while you two battled it out and wore yourselves down for me." As Dosu aimed the pipe, Shikamaru looked around and then formed the Hand Seal to create two shadow copies. As the Zankuha tore across the arena, the three Shikamaru's all jumped into the air. The attack struck two but they quickly became smoke. Illusions. The real Shikamaru was just on the edge and was propelled to the side. Dosu watched as the pineapple-head made a solid landing in a large puddle of blood. 'NO! He predicted the direction of my attack and plotted where to land. That area there should be soft and spongy still, perfect landing spot. What is this kid?'

With his hands and feet red with blood, Shikamaru ran to the side to avoid another Zankuha and threw a kunai in retaliation. It missed but it did cause Dosu to stop attacking for a moment. Shikamaru stopped and turned to Dosu. "I knew you were still active, I read a book once about the Wara Shroud and what it could do. And now you should quit."

Dosu coughed in surprise, trying not to laugh. "I should quit? You've not got any tunnels near you and you're too far away to use a shadow on me. Meanwhile, I've got you in my sights and I've got a long-range weapon right here. ZANKUHA!" The attack surged forward , but instead of moving, Nara just knelt down and laid two bloody hands on the ground.

"FUINJUTSU! MOKO! KAI!" The ground shook once more and again it erupted with kunai and shuriken and all manner of weapons, all aimed at Dosu. They collided with the Zankuha and though some shattered, the rest soon overpowered the attack. Dosu ran.

'How in the world did he do that?' He didn't make it, he's not the caster. And this is some sort of Uzumaki Clan special Fuinjutsu! Nearly a Bloodline….. Blood! When he landed from the Zankuha, he landed in a puddle of it. He landed in a puddle of Uzumaki blood and then smeared it on the ground where that Uzumaki created the Seal. He must have had this planned out the moment I reappeared! No, he said he'd known the moment he saw the Wara Shroud… he had this planned from the beginning!' A large hammer manged to land a hit square in the back of the former Oto-nin and he fell down hard. The weapons circled menacingly. "Okay! I give! I quit! You win! Just call off the attack!"

The Proctor raised a hand. "Winner! Nara Shikamaru!" The crowd roared with cheers for the young Genin and Naruto leapt down to congratulate his friend. Grinning like a madman, the Orange Genin pulled Shikamaru along for a victory lap around the arena while some Iryo-nin ran over to the two defeated ninja to see to their wounds.

NSN

Choji finished his last bag of crisps. "Man, Shikamaru has really changed this month….. he's so motivated now…" Ino looked over at her….. pleasingly plump teammate and saw he's sad expression.

'He's been friends with Shikamaru longer than we've been a team…. He must be worried that they're drifting apart. It's not like he has a lot of other friends, he doesn't hang out with many other ninja unless it's for a mission and all the civilians our age make fun of him. I've not helped much either though, have I?' Ino placed a comforting hand on Choji's shoulder. "He probably just didn't want people to think our Team was weak Choji, we both lost and that Suna team all got through. Two thirds of Team Seven got through too! I'm sure Shikamaru has a reason for this turnaround."

"You'd be right." The two Genin jumped out of their seats when Asuma's voice appeared out of nowhere. Their Jonin Instructor took up a seat next to them and lit another cigarette. "Shikamaru made a little wager with me; if he won, we'd all eat at Yakinu Q for a week. All you can eat. I'd pay. If he lost, he'd pay." Asuma smiled as Choji burst off of his chair again and started to cheer loudly. Ino covered her face at the antics of her teammate.

Ino looked up and asked her Sensei a question. "What happens if he wins the whole thing?"

Asuma blew out a large smoke ring and grinned at them. "A year of all you can eat Yakinu Q." Choji heard this and simply passed out. Auma laughed and turned to the arena again. As he watched his candidate for promotion circle the arena he considered his personality. 'Normally lacking in motivation, it could mean it allows him to make calm and collected decisions. He knows his strengths and skills, so he doesn't panic in battle or lose his cool. No matter what the situation he can alwayd act calmly. When people talk about the right mental make-up for a Chunin…. Shikamaru has all the qualities of a good leader.

Izumo and Kotetsu were still trying to work out the amount they would have to pay to cover Uzumaki's Ramen tab when they stopped to consider the victor of the last match. Izumo spoke first. "When you measure the value of a small unit leader, it's often the case that protecting the team is more important than completing the mission." Kotetsu nodded.

"Yeah, in information gathering, you can't be saying; "I completed my mission but my whole team got wiped out. You need a guy who can balance the risks, sacrifice and the mission on a scale and make the best decision for the whole. If you can't act and think with the lives of your teammates as the top priority then you have no place being a Chunin."

"In which case, I doubt that Neji guy will get put forward. I'm not sure with Naruto though. He obviously has the moves but I checked Team Seven's Mission Reports and I'm struggling to figure out what has been going on with their training. When we went for our exams, Sensei had us do at least ten C Rank Missions. They have more D Ranks than all the Genin Teams put together and only one C Rank that got upgraded to B and included an S Rank Rogue Ninja…. However, he's been working at the Medical Centre most of the last month, working as part of a medical team and he spent a chunk of the match just trying to find out what Neji's beef was."

"That is a question then; is that kid ready for Chunin? But there's another question that's bugging me right now…."

"Really? What's that?"

"Where's Uchiha Sasuke?"


	16. Chapter 16

Naruto is a manga series by Masashi Kishimoto published by Shueisha in Japan's Shonen Jump and VIZ Media in the American Shonen Jump. The anime series is produced by Studio Pierrot and Aniplex for TV Tokyo and Animax with VIZ Media having gone through multiple networks over the years. I don't own the series, I make no money out of doing this. Please support the official release.

Heya Guys! A little late and a little short, but I hope you like the character interaction.

Chapter Sixteen: Where's Sasuke?

"Where's Sasuke?" Naruto looked around, trying to pick out his teammate and rival from the masses. He came to a stop, causing the Nara holding his hand to bump straight into him.

"Oi Naruto, be a bit careful with stopping when you're dragging someone around. It's bothersome crashing into stuff." Though trying to sound nonchalant, the next in line for the position of Head of Clan was looking around too. He didn't know the Uchiha well but he knew that there was no way that the Council of Elders in Konoha would allow the Last Uchiha to duck out of a match. He looked up at Gaara. 'That guy was ready to kill Lee for landing a few hits on him. If it wasn't for Naruto…. Focus Shikamaru.' He shook himself out of his thoughts as he saw Aburame Shino descend onto the arena.

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At the centre of the arena, the Genin gathered together around the Proctor. Gaara glared menacingly at the blonde Genin. Shikamaru moved slightly behind Naruto, connecting their shadows and increasing the maximum reach of his Jutsu. Genma tried to gauge the remaining Genin. Uzumaki looked confident and full of energy. Shikamaru looked scared, but there was a look of resolve on his face that told Genma that the young Nara was going to stand his ground. Gaara looked like madness and rage personified. Shino was impenetrable. 'That guy is one cool customer.' With no others appearing, Genma cleared his throat to get their attention. "Well, since there's no one left, I guess you guys are the finalists. One of you didn't fight at all, another of you had their opponent quit before anything happened, another of you died of bloodloss then woke up and one of you just fought two people at once. I'll get some of the Jonin to give a demonstration while you recover and prepare. Then you'll be matched up as follows: Uzumaki v.s Gaara, then Aburame v.s Nara." Aburame raised his hand. They all turned.

"Excuse me Chunin Exam Proctor Shiranui Genma, I have a request to make of you. I wish to face Sabaku no Gaara in battle." Gaara finally showed an emotion other than cold hatred; absolute shock and bewilderment. Shino stepped forward and pushed his sunglasses further up his nose. "In this exam I have had one disappointing opponent and a spineless coward of an opponent. I am forwarding this request due to frustration and a wish for a strong opponent." At this, Shikamaru moved towards the bug-user. "I mean no offense Nara, but your style of combat would not be suitable." He turned to face his desired opponent. "I hope you are not as secretive as your painted sibling." Gaara glowered at that statement but was stopped from countering by Genma turning them all to face the Hokage and Kazekage.

"Ladies and Gentleman! The Genin Competitors will have a short recess and we will then continue with the finals!" Noticing the rumblings of discontent, Genma continued. "Until then! We will have some of Konoha's very own Jonin come down and give you a demonstration of their prowess and skill!" Cheers erupted from the crowds as the Jonin amongst them began to feverishly come up with some kind of display or technique that would get the crowd going.

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'Someone has cast some kind of Genjutsu trap on the audience!' Kurenai exclaimed to herself. The Genjutsu Mistress of Konoha was creating an elaborate sequence of Genjutsu for the audience and felt the presence of the unknown creation. 'It feels like a 'sleeping net' ensnaring the weak-minded or the unguarded at the whim of the caster. The reports are true then; Orochimaru is planning for his Invasion to begin within the Chunin Exam Finals. There has to be some way for me to disarm it, or reduce its effectiveness.' Kurenai changed the pattern of her Genjutsu and directed them to become more fluid and free-form so that she could focus her mind on defeating the enemy Genjutsu. Finally she decided to create her very own net, closer to the audience. It would mix and muddle up any Genjutsu beside her own.

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Uchiha Sasuke straightened his new outfit and tried to crane his neck around the corner to peak at what was happening in the stadium only to be stopped by his Sensei's hand. "Kakashi, why are we waiting in the shadows like this? I could get disqualified for tardiness." Kakashi turned his young student to face him.

'He still doesn't call me Sensei…. And yet he referred to Uzumaki as Sensei? Ungrateful punk, maybe I should forbid the use of this technique I have taught him…' The Copycat Ninja Hatake Kakashi mused to himself before he finally spoke. "Sasuke, your opponent tried to kill you before the Finals. By playing possum, we can have a greater impact on him by arriving at the last minute."

"Yes but-"

"Trust me. Trust your Kakashi-sensei."

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"Yosh! Thankyou Yuuhi for your enthralling display! But now it is time for the flames of YOUTH!" Kurenai was blown across the arena as a large tortoise landed with a massive thud in the very centre of arena. Standing atop it, Might Guy was loudly punching and kicking outwards till he burst into the air and threw out a series of large scrolls. From these scrolls came a large number of Kung Fu training dummies of different shapes and sizes. "Ladies and Gentleman! I give to you a thrilling display of most Youthful Taijutsu training!" In the crowd Rock Lee cheered loudly as his sensei begun to blur across the arena doing a series of exercises with each dummy till it exploded from the force of Gai's blows. In a short time, the arena was littered with splinters of wood. Gai stopped and took a moment to concentrate before he disappeared into a blur. The splinters disappeared from the floor and a mass started to grow in the centre of the arena. The mass continued to grow until it became two blurry pillars. After some time, Gai stopped. And the crowd beheld his creation; two wooden figures carved from splinters hammered together by tremendous force. In the centre of the arena were statues of Rock Lee and Might Gai, both performing the 'Nice Guy Pose'. He rejoined the audience and again stood with Lee. "We will get through this Lee. I believe you have the will and determination to overcome your injuries and still become a truly splendid Ninja." Lee turned to him with tears in his eyes and soon Gai had tears in his eyes too. They embraced each other and all that was left in their world was a teacher and his wonderful student.

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"Hokage-sama, may I have a word?" Hiruzen turned to see his old student, Jiraiya of the Sannin, standing in front of him.

"Jiraiya! You disappeared nearly a month ago with a Genin of Konoha! Can you explain yourself?" Hiruzen was furious, he had expected Jiraiya to stay and train Naruto for a time and instead he had run off with Naruto's teammate.

"Hokage-sensei, I was remembering what I had lost." The Hokage's anger cooled. He knew how hard Jiraiya had taken the loss of both his teammates. "But I have some other news to talk to you about. It concerns a former student of mine. Katanakaji."

The Sandaime Hokage nodded. "Yes, Katanakaji. I spoke with him earlier. He's petitioning for Godfatherhood of young Uzumaki."

Jiraiya didn't know about this but he wasn't surprised either. "I'm not here often enough anyway. Katanakaji wants to talk. And when he says that without an ounce of humour or a glimmer of a smile, it means he wants a fight." The Hokage choked on his pipe. "Yes. He is angry with what has happened in Naruto's childhood and he blames me for it since I was always away and even when I was I didn't visit. Those long-term surveillance missions you forced on me have meant Naruto grew up without anyone to call a friend, and was despised by all. He blames me and if he knew you kept on giving me missions he would come after you too. I won't tell him Old Man. I'll take his anger. I was the only one besides Minato who could." With that he turned and left and Hiruzen sighed into his chair. The 'Kazekage' leaned forward.

"Why so glum Old Man?"

"Because of me, my pupil has earned the hatred of his pupil and abandoned his Godson. Because of me, my pupil and his pupil are going to fight and I don't think they'll both survive it." Hiruzen took another puff of his pipe and hid his face with his hat.

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Tenten ran across to her team. "Gai-sensei! Lee!" She purposely 'forgot' to call out to Neji and she smiled when she saw that his feelings were hurt.

Gai shook his head at his kunoichi student. "Tenten, that is no way to treat a fellow teammate. He has learned from his mistake and he will be taking my punishment drills when he has fully recovered." He rested a hand on her shoulder and she looked up at him. "I understand that your feelings toward Neji are not happy but right now let's just cheer on our fellow ninja." They all heard clapping and turned to see a man in a green jumpsuit with a mullet. "Katanakaji-sensei!"

Katanakaji stopped clapping. "Well said Gai-kun. I see that youthful lust for life and sense of fairplay are still burning brightly in your heart. I apologise for my daughter's behaviour, she has become close to young Naruto this past month and was very concerned about him during his fight with your student Neji." Neji turned away slightly and stared out to the arena.

'Tenten has grown close to Naruto?' Thought Neji. 'I knew they had to have had some contact with each other, for her to give him my kimono. But how close is Gai-sensei's teacher saying? Are they a couple now? Why does it bother me so? The idea that Naruto is involved with Tenten causes a strange feeling in my chest. What is happening to me?'

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Rock Lee watched all this and turned away. 'Naruto has managed to defeat Neji, my rival. He has proven that Hard Work can defeat a Genius. With that, a dream of mine has been fulfilled. But not by me. And next he may well be battling the one who even I couldn't beat. The one who…' Without realising, Lee squeezed his crutch hard enough to open up cuts in his bandaged hand and blood began to seep out. In his mind he saw himself in a cage and Naruto running on ahead. 'Why does this hurt so much?' Tears began to well up in his eyes. A hand appeared on his shoulder. He looked up to see Katanakaji.

"Lee, did you know I make swords?" Lee nodded. "When forging them I have to heat the metal till it is soft enough to shape. Sometimes it becomes brittle and breaks. Do you know what I do then?" Lee looked at the Mullet Ninja with a confused look. "I reforge it, and I make it stronger and more durable. Do you understand Lee?" Lee managed a hesitant nod. "Though you're broken now, we shall reforge you, you shall reforge you. And you will be stronger than ever. And don't be too envious of that Uzumaki boy. You may think he's running on ahead of you but he is in awe of you skills and ability, you are his role model." Lee nodded and wiped the tears in his eyes away.

"Thankyou sir. For you guidance, and for your student."

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Aburame Shino stood across the arena from his opponent, Gaara. 'This opponent infuses sand with Chakra and manipulates it to act as a defence and as a weapon. Some of his sand manipulation is not even consciously performed, it can react automatically. Some of my insects are already analysing the Uzumaki blood puddle and the Seal he created. They may come in useful, however, I should avoid making it seem as though ninjas from Konoha are all one trick ponies.' Few had ever seen Shino's full face, and fewer still had ever seen Shino demonstrate any emotion other than distant coolness. But right now, Shino was excited. He had been left frustrated and raring for a fight. Though quite pacifistic in nature most of the time, Shino's insects weren't quite so peaceful. And their anxiousness to get the fight started was affecting Shino's judgement.

Genma raised his hand. "Aburame Shino versus Gaara! Begin!"


	17. Chapter 17

Naruto is a manga series by Masashi Kishimoto published by Shueisha in Japan's Shonen Jump and VIZ Media in the American Shonen Jump. The anime series is produced by Studio Pierrot and Aniplex for TV Tokyo and Animax with VIZ Media having gone through multiple networks over the years. I don't own the series, I make no money out of doing this. Please support the official release.

Heya Guys! Another piece of Slug that's a little late and a little short, but hopefully you'll enjoy what's going on.

Chapter Seventeen: Beetle takes on Demon! Place your bets now!

The two combatants stared at each other silently and without emotion. The crowd prepared to cheer but found themselves faltering and talking amongst each other, confused at what they were seeing. Gaara, the mysterious and silent ninja from Sunagakure. He had coldly and efficiently walked through each stage of the exam. There were bits of other ninja being eaten by the wildlife in the Forest of Death because of him. A Konoha Shinobi was crippled because of him. And he was up against the representative of one of the quietest, most reserved and most unassuming Ninja Clans in any of the Lands. Aburame. Shino.

"Aburame Shino versus Gaara! Begin!"

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After five minutes the crowd began to boo and jeer. They had expected Gaara to face the Last Uchiha and instead he was fighting a Nobody. And worse, neither of them had moved. Gaara was busily trying to figure out in his head where the Uchiha had gotten to, he was sure he had left him alive. He finally looked away from his opponent and looked upon his future opponents. His gaze rested upon the blond Genin watching him. 'Uzumaki…. Naruto. He spoke as if he understood me, understood what I had been through. And then threw me out of a window. He shall not survive our next encounter.'

He was interrupted from his thoughts by a voice. "Excuse me ninja of Sunagakure, but if you will redirect your attention now, I am your opponent." Shino spoke with clear confidence and pulled his hands out of his pockets. He had finished analysing the battlefield and directed his partners accordingly. They whispered to him their fears and he did what he could to sooth their concerns. 'My opponent controls sand with thought, he carries a gourd made of sand and it holds sand infused with his Chakra, granting him superior control over it in comparison to other sand. He has a sand shield that reacts automatically and a sand armour that protects him from harm if an opponent were to get through the shield. This protects him from long-range and short-range attacks of many different sorts. However, it is also riddled with vulnerabilities too. And I see them clearly.' With that he directed a small swarm to the tunnel Naruto dug and sent others to charge at the Suna-nin.

With a glare, sand sprung up and swiped the insects from the air. Another swarm appeared to his left and with a sigh he drove them away with another burst of sand. Shino threw a pair of kunai and with a shake of Gaara's head, sand consumed the weapons. 'Something is wrong,' mused the red-haired ninja as he saw the bug-user charge forward. With a flick of his wrist, the sand started to swing toward Shino. Shino exploded into a mass of insects and Gaara's unease grew. 'My sand feels….. heavier.' Gaara scoffed at the idea. But when Shino charged again, this time the real Shino, Gaara was shocked to find his sand barely moving at all. From his right and left, insects came and pushed into him, launching him into the air. Shino leapt and kicked Gaara in the stomach. To Gaara's surprise, he felt it. He felt air being pushed out and his whole body consumed with pain as it was launched twelve feet back. He fought to regain his breath as Shino landed softly.

"You are wondering how I did that?" The hate-filled glare told him yes. "My partners consume Chakra, normally from my body but they can feed on others. While we stared at each other, waiting for the other to move, I had some of my partners go to you and start eating the Chakra that you fill your sand with. As such, you're control over your sand stops being second to none." Gaara screamed.

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'Insects that consume Chakra? I had a lucky escape then. He could have cut my strings and destroyed me.' Mused Kankuro as he watched his bother fire off sand in all directions, trying to shake off the Aburame's insects.

In another part of the arena, Sakura started to mutter. 'That creepy bug guy thinks he's so cool doesn't he? Thinks he's better than my Sasuke? Thinks he's going to beat my Sasuke's opponent? We'll see. Sasuke will show up and you'll be disqualified for interfering with my Sasuke's fight and then Sasuke will beat Gaara and then he'll beat everyone and then they'll make him Jonin because my Sasuke is the best. My Sasuke is the best. My Sasuke is the best.'

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Uchiha Sasuke straightened his new outfit and tried to crane his neck around the corner to peak at what was happening in the stadium only to be stopped by his Sensei's hand. "Kakashi, why are we waiting in the shadows like this? I could get disqualified for tardiness." Kakashi turned his young student to face him.

'He still doesn't call me Sensei…. And yet he referred to Uzumaki as Sensei? Ungrateful punk, maybe I should forbid the use of this technique I have taught him…' The Copycat Ninja Hatake Kakashi mused to himself before he finally spoke. "Sasuke, your opponent tried to kill you before the Finals. By playing possum, we can have a greater impact on him by arriving at the last minute."

"Yes but-"

"Trust me. Trust your Kakashi-sensei."

Sasuke shifted some more until finally he relented. "Very well." He resumed his spot and waited till Kakashi had returned to his book. He pushed himself against the wall and tried to listen out for any loud conversations. When he heard some names he recognised he pushed himself closer.

"-Yeah I heard about that. Team Seven, led by the son of the White Fang. 'Pparently, he disappeared with one of his students after the previous matches, then the girl disappeared 'bout a week after that." Sasuke felt concern in his mind, while he did not care for Sakura's advances he did not wish the girl ill. If she had disappeared while looking for him…. "And so that one is left on his own. So you know what he does? I'll tell you what he does. He gets a job at the Medical Centre! I don't know what they teach ya in that Medical Centre but 'pparently it teaches ya how ta recover from severe blood loss and how ta lay the mother-of-all smackdowns on Hyugas."

Sasuke almost let out a gasp of shock. "He won? Dead-Last-Graduate, massive Dobe extraordinaire, Uzumaki Naruto defeated the Hyuga Prodigy? I knew he had potential with his Chakra reserves and his stubbornness, but to pull it off without a tutor for the last month? And while working at a hospital?' Sasuke listened for more.

Whoever the voice was talking to replied. "Who'd've thought the Demon Brat would have it in him?" The two started to laugh. Sasuke stepped away from the wall.

"Demon Brat? Naruto? Why would they call the Dobe a Demon? Come to think of it, it seems like Naruto gets a lot of looks whenever we're in town. None of them pleasant. He's always saying how he's running low on cash and he jumps at the chance of free food. His clothes have obviously been damaged and repaired many times. He always talks like we have things in common. Both of us orphans…. No it's more than that. I've always been treated special, being the last Uchiha. Not because I was talented or skilled. I have to face facts, my brother graduated a lot younger than me and I only recently obtained my Sharingan. I know I get a special discount on anything I buy and there's always some girl who wants a date. And ever since what happened with Naruto, some guys too. But Naruto…. Naruto obviously gets overcharged; the prices of his ninja tools and gear don't add up. While I hear whispers about my Clan and how brave I must be, those same people whisper about not trusting Naruto and how he could possibly dare to associate with others. Why is that? If I remember correctly, his birthday is on the same day as the anniversary of Kyuubi's defeat and the Yondaime's death. Could that be it? Naruto was born on the day Kyuubi died so he's some sort of "Pseudo-Kyuubi"? A target for the people of the village to unload their anger and remorse? I have to find out.' Sasuke vowed to himself then resumed waiting for Kakashi's signal.

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Gaara forced his sand armour off of his body, the breeze on his skin reminding him how naked and vulnerable he was in this form. He hurriedly began to channel his Chakra into his next move. "SABAKU TAISO!" He slammed his hands onto the ground and sand surged forward, carried by incredible shockwaves. The earth was chewed up and sand took its place, constantly moving toward Shino.

'His intention for this attack is threefold; first, he drives my partners away from him. Second, he turns the battlefield into "his" territory. There's more sand for him to control so it will be harder for my partners to disrupt his attacks. Third, this attack will crush me if it lands. There must be a way out. I just need to survive this attack.' He looked at his coat and remembered Shikamaru's distraction manoeuvre. Quickly he pulled off his Hitai-ate and undid his coat. The sand continued to crash forward.

Gaara took in the drastically changed battlefield and felt frustration. His opponent had shown intelligence and resourcefulness, he had managed to actually hit him. But now there was no body, no blood, no sense of accomplishment. He turned to the Proctor, who was clutching the branch of the sole remaining tree in the arena and waited for the announcement when a Kunai came flying at him from above. He looked up.

Shino was floating above him. He was bare chested, his coat currently acting as a hot-air balloon. His Hitai-ate acting as a hand grip. His partners also were connected to the coat, acting as rudders to guide Shino's flying device. He eventually landed and his large mass of hair nearly consumed his head before he was able to tidy it away with his Hitai-ate. His coat was left undone as Shino faced his opponent. "Do you know of the Hige Clan?" At the look of incomprehension Shino continued. "Because it is important and linked to what's coming next." Gaara started to growl. "The Hige Clan are a small and noble Family of Ninja that have lived in Konoha since it's foundation. It is said that they were the ones who laid the foundations and created the Hokage Mountain. Much like the Inuzuka and my own Clan, the Hige Clan have partners that they work with. These partners have very acute senses and react to high pitched sounds like the sounds my partners have been emitting in the tunnel that Uzumaki made earlier." Gaara ceased growling and turned to the area that once was the location of the small tunnel, the tunnel that had defeated his sister. "Further, the shockwave you just created would have angered these creatures and with the ground now replaced with soft sand, it is now much easier for them to reach the source of such a painful sound." At this, a large mass began to rise in the sand and charge toward Gaara. Larger and larger it grew until a massive claw erupted from the ground and came crashing down on Gaara. His shield collapsed and the claw tore into the Suna-nin, dragging him into the ground.

From up in the crowds a mighty scream came, filled with horror, dread and anger. "SONUVABITCH!"

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Sasuke was getting more and more impatient when he saw movement from below. Someone was returning from the restroom and a friend was shouting for him to hurry back. "What for Ken? Has that Uchiha shown up yet?" Sasuke flinched at the use of his name. He listened in more intently.

"No no Ryu, this is even better. Gaara is fighting some creepy bug guy called Aburame Shino. And the bug guy is totally taking that guy down! Crippled his attacks and kicked him right in the gut!" Sasuke went rigid and turned to Kakashi, who showed no sign of having heard the conversation. He jumped down and ran for the entrance.

What he saw defied all understanding. The arena was filled with sand and a giant mole was attacking Gaara, dragging him underneath the sand. All the frustration with waiting, all the anger from the attack that buried him under rock and rubble, all the confusion surrounding his teammate, it all came out in one loud scream. "SONUVABITCH!"


	18. Chapter 18

Naruto is a manga series by Masashi Kishimoto published by Shueisha in Japan's Shonen Jump and VIZ Media in the American Shonen Jump. The anime series is produced by Studio Pierrot and Aniplex for TV Tokyo and Animax with VIZ Media having gone through multiple networks over the years. I don't own the series, I make no money out of doing this. Please support the official release.

Heya Guys! Another piece of Slug that's a little late and a little short, this plate comes with hints of what's happening behind the scenes with some of our players. Let me know what you think.

Chapter Eighteen: SONUVABITCH! What's with the tardiness Kakashi?

The son of the White Fang, Legendary Copycat Ninja, sat silently reading his copy of the latest Icha Icha novel. In his peripheral vision he watched his young student pace anxiously and eavesdrop on passing spectators. Hatake Kakashi had read the rota for the matches and he had calculated how long each match would take and from that generated a conservative estimate of the latest they could leave their arrival. He still felt angry at his students refusal to refer to him as Sensei, especially after having heard the Last Loyal Uchiha refer to Uzumaki as such. 'Who does that blonde brat think he is? I was ready to take on an Uchiha for an Apprentice when the Orange Buffoon managed to somehow master the Kage Bunshin Kinjutsu. How did he do it? He's a Jinchukiri, nothing more than a Jailor. It's not like he's Shinobi royalty, or a member of a Clan or the son of-' The Jonin's thoughts were interrupted by a throbbing pain in his mind, the eye hidden under his Hitai-ate began to tense and quiver. He felt his whole body heat up and in his mind he saw a brief picture of something. Two people. A blond man and a woman with long red hair. It quickly vanished and his mind went blank. The pain faded and Kakashi recovered his breath. 'That was weird, must have been a small stress headache. Where was I? Oh, yes, Sasuke. It'll soon be time for our… wait. Where is he?' Kakashi looked around to see where his student had run off to when he heard a scream coming from the stands.

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Aburame Shino watched as the claws of a giant mole dragged his opponent, the red-haired Suna-nin, down into the ground. He noted the irony that the sand covered ground that his opponent had created had in fact made the mole's attack more effective. Why? 'Because sand provides less resistance than solid earth.' He was ready to signal the Proctor to call the match in his favour when he heard an angry scream.

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"SONUVABITCH!" Uchiha Sasuke bellowed with all his might as he saw his opponent, the one who buried him under several feet of rock and dirt, was dragged underground. He noticed all the spectators turning to look at him but he chose to ignore them. He ran down the steps, paying no attention to the questions being sent in his direction. Finally he reached the arena floor and went over to the Proctor. "Sir, Uchiha Sasuke," he bowed as low as he could without bending his knees and looking like he was doing a Yoga pose. "I deeply apologise for my tardiness, my Team Leader believed arriving late would make for an impressive entrance."

Genma placed a fresh senbon in his mouth. "Look kid, you were the star attraction for this here show but you're looking at the ending score, two matches left of the whole thing. I know your man and he's a dick for leaving it so late but that's that." He made to move to announce Shino's victory when a round man with pink hair bounded over to them.

"Proctor, I'm Head of the Civilian Council, Haruno Yoshi. I move that that Aburame boy be disqualified and Uchiha Sasuke be declared winner by default." The round man took out a handkerchief to mop his immensely sweaty brow. "Uchiha was clearly delayed by that boys insects and he was clearly acting as part of a group. How else could he have gotten a mole to appear like that? Clearly he paid those Hige Clan dwarves to attack that Gaara boy."

"You say clearly a lot." They all turned to see Shino standing before them, his hands tucked into his pockets. "Why? Because you are using as justification for your statements without backing it up with facts." He turned to face the round Haruno. "You are making up groundless lies. Why? Because you and the other civilians refuse to let the Uchiha fail."

'Is it always like this?' Sasuke thought to himself. 'Any time I want something, someone, somewhere gets it for me. Because I'm the Last Uchiha, the Rookie of the Year. All the girls that pursued me even though I showed no interest. I'm a "celebrity" because my family is dead. And yet Naruto, who is in almost the same position as me, gets nothing but contempt?' He shook his head. "No, thankyou for your time Proctor. I'm sure I can try again in six months." As he made his way back to the arena stands he felt the ground shake. The area where Gaara was dragged down began to open up and blood spurted from it. As the small hole became a pool of blood, a small figure stepped out. With his body so covered in blood and innards, it was only his large gourd that made it possible to see that it was the Suna-nin. Sasuke felt his gut clench and bile rise to his throat as he watched it all slide off, leaving the red-haired Suna-nin looking as pristine as when he had started the match. Only now he wore a smile, a terrible and uncomfortable smile that made his face contort and the blood vessels in his eyes visible. He was laughing.

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'Fighting only for oneself. Living while only loving oneself. Thinking that others exist only to allow you to experience that feeling. Nothing else matters but that world.' Naruto watched as the cackling boy climbed out of his grave covered in blood. He felt his blood run cold and his spine shivered. Standing beside him, Shikamaru noticed the change that had come over his friend and asked him what was wrong. "He and I….. we are so alike and yet, while I chose to seek out the attention and acceptance of others, he chose to walk alone. I don't know why he chose it, I couldn't bear the loneliness. I wonder which of us chose the right path?" Shikamaru looked confused but looking at Naruto's face he decided that was all he was going to get at this point in time. He turned back to the arena grounds to see what new horror was going to unfold.

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A spear of sand surged toward the small group and Uchiha moved out as quickly as he could to dodge the attack. Suddenly he heard a gasp from the Proctor and turned to see the spear wasn't aimed at him, nor was it aimed at the Proctor. It was aimed at the civilian. 'I'm too far away now to help. I'm sorry Sakura….'

Haruno Yoshi watched the spear and realised too late who it was aimed at. He scoffed at that thought. 'As if I could have dodged it all. Clearly I have let myself go too much, and I used to be such a fine specimen. Goodbye Sakura-hime.' He closed his eyes and waited for his death to come. Instead he felt his body being roughly pushed aside and saw Aburame Shino standing before him with his arm outstretched. "What?"

The spear came and Shino disappeared from Yoshi's sight. It soon settled and Yoshi saw the Aburame boy still standing where he was before, a bloody stump where his arm had been. "Why did I do that you ask? Because it is the first priority of a Shinobi of the Leaf to see to the safety of the Civilians of the Leaf. You are Konoha's precious people who welcome us Ninja home when we return. You feed us and clothe us. It is no big thing to lend a hand to those who do these for us Ninja."

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Uchiha Sasuke listened to the words and nodded in understanding. 'We Ninja protect the civilians and allow their businesses to flourish. In return they provide us with shelter and food. A Ninja can't hone his skills if he has to also worry about growing or rearing his next meal and the civilians can't keep their business going if bandits can raid them whenever they fancy. It's a symbiotic relationship; one can't succeed without the other.' With his mind set, Sasuke called out to Genma. "Proctor! Get Haruno and Aburame out of here! I'll deal with Gaara." He saw a disbelieving look on Genma's face. "I've been training the past month to fight him, you haven't. I have a better chance of holding him up while you get them to safety!" Genma nodded and rushed to the wounded Genin and the shaking civilian. He allowed his mind to slip into memory and called forth Rock Lee's movelist. Using his water-walking training he pushed Chakra into his limbs to reach Lee's speed as he ducked and wove through the sandy tendrils of Gaara's attacks. He drew in close and leapt in the air to deliver a powerful kick from above only to be blocked by the shield of sand. The shield contorted itself and morphed into a clone of Gaara and tried to consume the Uchiha but Sasuke was ready and he drove a Chakra powered fist into the throat of the clone and escaped it's clutches. He increased his speed, dodged an almost point-blank range attack and delivered a kick to the face of Gaara. The face became cracked and no longer looked like a face at all. "So that's the armour of sand huh? I'm gonna tear it off!" He continued to pick and pull at Gaara from all angles until the ground suddenly shook and sand from all directions swarmed around the red-haired Suna-nin, encasing him in a giant sandy egg.

NSN

Naruto sat back and watched Gaara clutching his head and constantly flinching with each attack. He thought more on what he had seen and heard about Gaara, the boy who was more like him than anyone else he knew. 'He believes his reason to exist is to kill everyone else besides him. He seeks validation in killing people, because no-one recognised him like Iruka recognised me. No…. no he was given validation, but it was taken away. Could it be there was someone who he thought of as a precious person but for them it was all a lie to get close? He said his own father sent assassins to kill him, could one of them tried to lower his defences by befriending him? I was afraid that he had become stronger than me because he chose to walk a path I was afraid to walk but that's not the case is it? He's in pain, constant pain.' He stood up abruptly, causing Shikamaru to flinch in surprise. "Shikamaru! I'm going to go find Kakashi-sensei!" He took off.

The young Nara chased after him. "Naruto! What are you going to do?" He called out to the blonde.

'I'm going to stop this fight.'

NSN

On the outskirts of town, a small group of Oto-nin were huddled in an alley waiting for the signal to attack the nearest civilian buildings and to clear a space for the Special Weapons Team to set up. With the weapon set up they would be able to destroy the Hokage Monument and shatter the morale of the village. The team leader was giving them a final brief when they heard a commotion at the other end of the alley. "Who's there?"

There was laughing as two apparently drunk civilians fell forward. One had auburn hair and amber eyes while his drinking buddy had black hair and pale skin. The pale one fell over a lot as they passed through the group while singing some bizarre song about a woman with four breasts. The Oto-nin turned back to their team leader to see him clutching his throat. Others began clutching their throats. "Kikaichu no Jutsu." Those that remained turned to see the pale man fix a black mask onto himself and the auburn –haired man tie a Konoha Hitai-ate around his forehead. "I leave the rest to you Fu, because I have defeated half of them and their team leader." The remaining Oto-nin charged forward.

Fu pulled out his tanto and skewered the nearest enemy. He booted the dead man back at the others, sending them all further away from him. 'Perfect' he thought to himself. He used his thumbs and index fingers to form a square and channelled his Chakra to release one of his Clans more lethal techniques. "Shinranshin no Jutsu!" The Oto-nin screamed in agony as their will and their bodies were severed from each other. They could only watch in anguish as their own bodies betrayed them and killed each other. Fu let out a laugh, but then stopped. "It is strange to laugh; my face makes a strange shape. I know Danzo-sama wants us to express ourselves more but I am uncertain we should be acting thus during such an important mission." He saw his teammate nod.

"And yet what you have just said is in accordance with Danzo-sama's wishes, because you are expressing an opinion about our orders." Torune said as he fixed the straps of his mask, feeling uncomfortable without it on. Fu wiped the blood off of his tanto before sliding it back into its sheath as he walked

"You're right Torune but I wonder at other feelings that dwell within me now that Danzo-sama has told us we should explore them. I wonder whether to act on them or to use the suppression exercises again." He attempted to turn away only for Torune's hand to grip his shoulder and stop him fully turning away.

"Fu, we have been told to explore these feeling to their fullest so just come out with it already or I'll-" the rest of his sentence was cut off as Fu took hold of his teammate and pulled him into a long and passionate kiss. Torune's hands froze but as the kiss deepened he felt the need to explore and allowed his hands to glide along his teammate's back. He felt the strong muscles of Fu's back and as they went lower he felt the firm roundness of the auburn-haired man's buttocks. It only served to egg Fu on as he drove his masked partner up against the wall. He finally relinquished Torune's mouth only so he could attack the man's neck. He bit down hard and sucked on the delicious pale skin, and Torune groaned. He groaned with lust and pressed himself against Fu and he felt Fu's long, hard need for him. "More" he whispered into Fu's ear.

"More?"


	19. Chapter 19

Naruto is a manga series by Masashi Kishimoto published by Shueisha in Japan's Shonen Jump and VIZ Media in the American Shonen Jump. The anime series is produced by Studio Pierrot and Aniplex for TV Tokyo and Animax with VIZ Media having gone through multiple networks over the years. I don't own the series, I make no money out of doing this. Please support the official release.

Heya Guys! Another piece of Slug that's a little late and a little short, I sort of forgot about the main plot here. Let me know what you think.

Chapter Nineteen: Screw the plot! This subplot is rather tasty!

The Ryuken Gym was closed for the Chunin Exams, but the door had not been locked. Due to the safety of the village and the fighting ability of its two owners, it was assumed no-one would be stupid enough to break into the gym. Clearly they hadn't taken Fu and Torune into account. The auburn-haired ROOT Shinobi dragged his pale lover through the reception and into the gym area. He pulled Torune in close and once again moved in to explore the mouth of the masked man. Each fought for dominance with their tongues until the Yamanaka conquered his Aburame and pushed him up against a wall. Instinctively, the pale Aburame wrapped his legs around Fu's waist and pulled them closer against each other. Fu pushed himself against Torune and felt his hard need for the other man throb against his partners own throbbing need. He deepened the kiss and brought his hands to graze along Torune's stomach as he felt his pale Aburame grind against him. His hands reached down and pulled the sash away, the better to reach the zipper of the coat. Soon, pale Aburame skin was on show and Fu's hands began to explore. Torune's breathing hitched from the feeling of hands on his bare skin. Fu wrapped his arms around Torune's body and pulled them away from the wall. With his mouth he attacked the pale man's neck, sucking on an artery, hard, before biting down on it, hard. Torune groaned, feeling himself on the verge.

He felt himself being set down and opened his eyes. They were in a shower room. The smell of steam, soap and aroused male bodies invaded his nostrils as he looked to his auburn-haired partner. Fu slowly removed his coat, his top, his Hitai-ate. As he undid the headband, Torune watched the movement of Fu's muscles, the way they flexed and tensed. He watched the man kick off his sandals and slowly pull down his trousers. 'He's putting on a show, just for me. But what if someone comes in?' Fu stood before the pale Aburame, naked and beautiful. Before Torune got the chance to get up, Fu walked over and captured his lips once again. As the kiss continued, Fu slid Torune's coat off of him and started to move down. He kissed around his neck then moved down to roughly bite down on a nipple while undoing the masked man's trousers. The sensation caused Torune to spasm and slip off of his seat. His trousers slid down, as did Fu. Torune stepped out of his trousers and sandals while Fu laid butterfly kisses along the other man's inner thigh. The pale Aburame gasped and gripped the sink counter as Fu's lips grazed along his hard length. He looked down to see amber eyes, glowing with lust.

Torune gave a throaty groan as Fu wrapped his lips around the Aburame's member. His lips slid further and further while his tongue massaged the throbbing, quivering dick. He reached the base and held himself there, still working his tongue and sucking hard to squeeze his lover's member. Finally, the need for air was too much and he drew back. He kept the tip in his mouth and gripped the member. With one hand he gripped and squeezed, and with the other he massaged Torune's sac. Fu could tell that his Aburame was getting close, he scanned the area and saw a condom machine. He grinned and pulled away. He got a condom and made a show of putting it on, he didn't need to see Torune's face to tell it was affecting the bug-user. He moved close and pushed himself against Torune, eliciting another groan, while collecting some liquid soap from the dispenser. Using the soap, he lubed himself up, chuckling at the sight of an enthralled at the sight. He took Torune's hand and had him face a wall. Fu slid his hands all over the pale man's body, before bringing them to rest on his round butt. Torune's breathing was ragged. "Please." He rasped. "Please." Fu chuckled

"Please what?" Fu said as he pressed himself against the pale Shinobi's buttocks. "Please stop?" He leaned in and kissed Torune's shoulder. "Please what?" He nipped Torune's ear. Torune's breathing hitched.

"Please." He gasped. "Please. Fuck me." He didn't have to ask twice as he felt Fu press in firmly, stopping when Torune tensed and then continuing till he was all the way in. He slowly pulled back and then pushed back in. Torune grunted and Fu kissed his neck again, letting his hands explore his Aburame's body again. Once again he bit down on Torune's neck as he pinched the hardened nipples of the masked Shinobi. Torune shifted to move an arm to Fu only for the auburn-haired Shinobi to grab hold of it and move it back to the wall. He shifted the arms of his Aburame to make the muscles of his beautiful pale back shift and contort.

Fu grunted with effort as he increased his speed, bringing a loud groan from his Aburame. 'Fuck, his body is so beautiful and fragile looking, it's hard to believe this is the body of the man who's stood beside me all these years.' He brought one hand to rest on the pale back of his lover, sliding it down till it came to rest on Torune's pale butt. With an evil grin he delivered a hard slap to the pale cheeks. He was rewarded with an incredible tightening that threatened to make him lose it there. He managed to hold it however and pushed in harder than ever, relishing the new tightness and delivering another slap with every second thrust. He brought his other hand round to grip Torune's length and proceeded to stroke it with slow, hard movements. He could feel himself getting close but he didn't plan to leave his lover wanting. He stopped the spanking, taking a moment to admire the shade of pink he had caused, and pushed himself in further. He sped up his massage and squeezed harder, Torune groaned even more.

"F-Fu! F-fuck, I'm. I'm at my limit."

"Me too."

"Oh Gods I'm gonna!" Fu bit down on Torune's neck and again increased his speed. Torune roared out as he was literally cannoned over the edge. And Fu didn't stop, the bite kept going, the hand kept rubbing and his thrusts kept going. 'H-he's not stopping! H-he's going to break me like this!' Finally Fu let go of Torune's neck and roared his release. Torune felt his feet leave the floor as he was pushed against the wall. He felt the warmth of Fu's release inside of him and gasped, his own release still burning hot through him.

Fu felt like his knees were going to buckle as he let himself fall back, Torune falling back with him. They landed with a thud on the floor and languished in the afterglow of sex. Neither felt like they could speak, their throats raw and their breathing too ragged to allow them to say anything.

After a long silence, when they had both finally caught their breath they locked lips again, Torune rolling on top of his auburn haired lover. The kiss deepened and Torune felt his lover harden again. He kissed his way down, running his hands all over the toned, muscular body. Fu attempted to sit up only for Torune to push him back. "Uh uh Fu, no need to get up. Because I'll be doing the work this time." Torune slid further down and peeled away the used condom. He took in the sight of the source of his pleasure, part lustfully and part wondering how he had managed to take it all. He shook away his doubts and retrieved a fresh condom from the machine before wrapping his hands around his auburn-haired lover's quivering member. Fu groaned his approval. The masked Shinobi took a deep breath and moved to wrap his lips around the mighty length when a hand came to rest on his head. He looked up and saw his lover's eyes darken with lust.

"Take it off."

"What?"

"The mask, take it off. I want to see you." Torune suppressed a blush and complied. Despite his lack of any other clothes he felt more vulnerable when he wasn't wearing the mask. He heard a gasp and looked up at Fu, confused at the reaction to a face that he had seen before. "I want to look into your eyes when we…." Torune nodded and returned his attention to the piece of Fu he still held in his hands. He pushed as far as he could, trying to remember what Fu had done to him, using his tongue to massage his lover's length. He reached as far as he could and pulled back. He ripped open the packet and slid the rubber over the large member, giving it a squeeze to elicit a groan from Fu.

Torune straddled the auburn-haired shinobi and lined himself up. Slowly he slid himself down, grunting with effort and watching the look of lust decorating his lover's face. With one last push he pushed himself all the way to the base. He groaned loudly, relishing the sense of fullness. Fu proved to be impatient and decided to wake up his daydreaming lover by pushing his hips upward. Torune whimpered at his lover's forcefulness only for the next push to elicit a loud groan from the bug-user. Torune started to raise himself up the length only to push back down. Hard. The tiles rubbed against his knees as picked up the pace. He started to literally bounce on his lover's lap, the both of them groaning loudly. Fu rested his hands on Torune's hips and started to raise himself up to meet Torune's hips, pushing his length even deeper into his lover's passage. Their eyes locked with each other and started to groan louder. Their thrusts fell into a rhythm that filled the room the sounds of grunting and groaning, of flesh slapping against flesh. Torune arced his back, releasing a loud moan, as Fu took hold of the bug-user's length. This only led to another, even more ragged moan. In this new position, Fu's length pressed against another area inside of Torune. Fu pushed up and Torune groaned again. It was difficult for Fu to thrust up very fast or hard, but he did what he could to speed up, to plunge in harder. Torune writhed and mewled in delicious agony at the new kind of penetration.

With his body aching from exertion, Fu raised himself into a sitting position. He shifted his legs to bring Torune back up too. Torune took over setting the rhythm, bouncing in his auburn-haired lover's lap. Still gripping the pale man's member, Fu attacked Torune's nipples with teeth again. Torune sped up and moaned into his lover's mouth, their mouths sinking into each other, their tongues wrapping round one another.

Torune cried out, "Fu-fuck! Fu I'm gonna… I'm-" Arms wrapped around him.

"Me too Torune! I'm-" Fu roared out his release, pushing Torune over the edge. Once again he fell back, holding Torune in his arms. They gasped for air and looked into each other's eyes, sharing an unspoken conversation. I care for you. I don't want this to be a one-time thing. I think I lo- "Torune. Weren't we in the middle of a mission before we….."

"Y-yes. I completely forgot. We had two more squads of Oto-nin to neutralise. We should get back to it as soon as-" They were interrupted by a loud explosion coming from the stadium where the Chunin exams were being held.

"I suppose we should get back to work then. Shame, for our first foray into expressing emotions this was… rewarding."

"Indeed."


	20. Chapter 20

Naruto is a manga series by Masashi Kishimoto published by Shueisha in Japan's Shonen Jump and VIZ Media in the American Shonen Jump. The anime series is produced by Studio Pierrot and Aniplex for TV Tokyo and Animax with VIZ Media having gone through multiple networks over the years. I don't own the series, I make no money out of doing this. Please support the official release.

AUTHOR' NOTE: MONTH LONG HIATUS

Okay guys, I know some got antsy about the last chapter being so far away from the plot, but I would point out that there are parts of the actual series where it could just have been called Sasuke. And those that are reading the latest Chapters may even have started calling it Kabuto.

As you can see from the note above I am taking a month off of Slug. I'm nearing the end of the course I'm doing at the moment and I really need to focus on that big time for the next month or so. I will be coming back and I will be continuing the story where I left off.

While I'm off I will not be leaving Slug completely. I intend to return to the previous chapters and update them, lay in some new work and fix a few errors (If you can think of any in particular let me know. Or if there are any details that you think are missing that could help enrich the story or help explain what's going on let me know).

I also need to rework some of the future events, those that are up to date on the manga will know that Danzo's history with others has been updated and I'm now needing to adjust the way he interacts with some of them.

Sorry for the inconvenience, any questions PM me.


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